A spokesman of the Hamas-led Palestinian government on Sunday urged Palestinian militants who might take an Israeli soldier hostage to keep him safe.

Ghazi Hamad made the appeal in Arabic, English and Hebrew at a news conference held in Gaza City and also urged the kidnappers to well treat the Israeli soldier.

But Hamad said that the Hamas-led government had no information regarding the condition of the Israeli soldier, who was missing after an earlier attack on an Israeli military post and was believed to be abducted.

The spokesman also promised to release more information once it was available.

The Hamas-led government had called on the Israeli government not to escalate violence in a bid "to prevent further deterioration or complication of the situation," Hamad said.

He added that the Hamas-led government was "exerting efforts with all concerned sides to reach a solution for this problem."

Two Israeli soldiers were killed, four others wounded and another was missing when eight Palestinian militants from three armed groups including Hamas' armed wing mounted a coordinated attack on the Israeli army post near the Kerem Shalom crossing on the eastern Gaza border with Israel early on Sunday.

The Israeli army said that the missing soldier was still alive, vowing to spare no effort to secure his safe return.

In the wake of the deadly attack, Israeli troops to intrude into the Gaza Strip in the largest intrusion since Israel pulled out forces and settlers from Gaza last summer after a 38-year-long presence there.

Hamas, or the Islamic Resistance Movement which now runs the Palestinian government, has called off a 16-month-old truce with Israel since June 9 when seven Palestinian civilians were killed in a blast on a Gaza beach.

Source: Xinhua