The armed wing of the ruling Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), which is taking an Israeli soldier hostage, has moderated its conditions for releasing the soldier, the London-based al-Hayat newspaper reported on Thursday.

The daily quoted Palestinian sources as saying that Hamas demanded the release of 120 prisoners instead of a previous demand which called for the release of 1,000 prisoners.

Most of the 120 prisoners are women and younger ones held in Israel.

The demand also included release of 30 prisoners who spent more than 20 years in Israeli prison.

There was no immediate comment from the armed wing on the report, as most Hamas leaders are hiding for fear of being targeted by Israel.

The softened stance was to save the Gaza Strip from a new round of retaliatory Israeli operations, the sources said.

However, Israel has refused the new demand that was conveyed by an Egyptian mediation team, according to the newspaper.

The Israeli army retook ruins of the former settlements of Dugit, Elei Sinai and Nisanit early Thursday in a new operation in the Gaza Strip in a bid to rescue Gilad Shalit.

Source: Xinhua