Hamas spokesman Ayman Taha said Tuesday that the Islamic movement did not resume talks with Israel on exchanging a captive Israeli soldier for Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas will hear from Egyptian mediator about Israel's stance and decide whether to continue the talks again or keep it closed according to the Israeli response, Taha told the press.
Taha added that Hamas "doesn't think to change its demands" to free the Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit and to resume the talks from the point they stopped at.
Hamas captured Shalit in a cross-border raid in 2006 and is holding him as hostage in the Gaza Strip, demanding Israel to release more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange.
Earlier rounds of talks through Egypt efforts led to an Israeliacceptance of releasing the number of prisoners that Hamas demands but Hamas' insistence to select the names of the freed prisoners blocked the swap, it was reported.
Hamas suspended the talks after Egypt brokered a ceasefire between the Islamic movement and Israel in the Gaza Strip last June, saying that Israel did not respect the ceasefire, so it halted the talks on Shalit.
Source: Xinhua
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