Kidnapped Israeli Soldier is Alive, Hamas Says

The abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is alive and is being treated as a prisoner of war, the Hamas political leader, Khaled Meshaal, said today.

Speaking at a high-security press conference in the Syrian capital, Damascus, Mr Meshaal said Corporal Shalit would be released in return for the release of some of the 9,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons.

He added that the soldier was only being kept in detention because of Israeli intransigence.

"The Palestinian people are united on insisting that the prisoner soldier be traded for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails," he said. "We say to the world that we, as a true people and movement, do not forget our prisoners.

"I do not exaggerate when I say that [the Israeli prime minister Ehud] Olmert and his hostile policies are holding Gilad Shalit. He shoulders the responsibility for what is happening to him."

Corporal Shalit was kidnapped on July 25 by a Palestinian militant group that included members of the military wing of Hamas. The militants tunnelled inside Israeli territory and captured the soldier after a firefight that left two people dead on each side.

The incident sparked Israel's most serious attack against the Palestinian territories since it pulled out of the Gaza Strip last year. Tanks have pushed into the north and south of the Strip, with at least 50 Palestinians having been killed in the incursion.

Israeli strikes on bridges, pipelines and electricity stations have cut off or limited electricity, water and sanitation to thousands of homes, factories and hospitals.

The UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, this weekend called for urgent action "to alleviate the desperate humanitarian situation of the civilian population" of Gaza, describing conditions there as "dangerous".

The possibility that some sort of prisoner exchange could take place was initially rejected by the Israeli government, which has insisted on the unconditional release of the soldier.

However, on Friday the Israeli public security minister, Avi Dichter, said "Israel will need to, after some time, release prisoners as a reciprocal gesture".

Mr Meshaal's press conference in Damascus involved journalists being taken to a secret location because the Hamas leader is believed to top a hitlist of the group's leaders threatened with assassination by the Israeli military.

Following Corporal Shalit's abducation, Israel arrested 64 Hamas parliamentarians in the West Bank and rocketed the empty Gaza office of the Palestinian prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, the senior Hamas figure in the Palestinian government.

Israeli politicians have hinted that Hamas leaders could face a campaign of assassination similar to that which killed several of the group's leaders, including its spiritual leader, Ahmed Yassin, and co-founder Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, in 2004.

Mr Meshaal said Israel had been responsible for the collapse of release negotiations being brokered by Egyptian, Qatari and European mediators.

"These efforts hit snags over Israel's insistence on the release of the Israeli soldier and its refusal to release Palestinian prisoners," he said. "This is not a solution ... we don't want escalation. We are for a peaceful, quiet resolution."

Several Israeli sources have alleged that Mr Meshaal ordered the kidnapping as a way of asserting his control over Hamas, which has shown tentative moves towards engagement in the political process since its politicians won Palestinian parliamentary elections in January.

Mr Mehsaal denied the kidnapping showed splits in Hamas, and said the fate of Coroporal Shalit was in the hands of his kidnappers alone.

"They know how to deal with this case," he said. "They know their duties and assessing the military situation is up to the mujahideen [holy warriors] on the ground."

"We are one movement. We shoulder together the responsibility. As Hamas and resistance forces inside and outside [the territories] we stand behind the resistance and support our mujahideen."

Arab and Middle Eastern capitals have seen waves of protest against Israel's incursion into Gaza, including a demonstration by tens of thousands on the streets of Damascus shortly before Mr Meshaal's press conference.

Around 20,000 people staged an anti-Israel demonstration in Turkey's biggest city, Istanbul, prior to the signing of an agreement between Turkish and Palestinian politicians yesterday.

The deal guarantees $1m of business support and 10,000 tonnes of flour as food aid to the Palestinian territories.