Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Hamas leaders told him they have given conditional approval for the release of an Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian militants, an Egyptian newspaper reported today.
"There were Egyptian communications which included a number of Hamas leaders and resulted in initial positive results in the form of a conditional approval by Hamas to turn over the Israeli soldier as quickly as possible to avoid escalation," Mr Mubarak was reported as saying.
"But there has been no agreement on this yet with the Israeli side," he was quoted as adding.
Palestinian militants captured the Israeli soldier on Sunday in an attack launched from Gaza on an Israeli army post. Israel says it holds Hamas responsible for the abduction of Corporal Gilad Shalit (19) and his safe return.
Hamas political leaders have said they were not involved in planning the attack by the movement's armed wing and two other militant factions. Two Israeli soldiers and two militants were killed in the attack.
The Popular Resistance Committees, one of the militant groups Israel believes to be responsible for Cpl Shalit's abduction, issued a statement yesterday, vowing not to provide information about whether the soldier was alive or dead.
Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz said Israel would step up pressure against militants in Gaza to secure Cpl Shalit's release and to stop militants firing rockets at Israel from the area.