The deposed premier of the Hamas government called on the Islamic movement to keep holding a soldier hostage unless Israel accepts Palestinian demands.

In a speech in Gaza City, Ismail Haneya also called on the Palestinian people to support his movement to "achieve an honorable swap" in which a number of Palestinian and Arab prisoners will be released from Israeli jails.

The Hamas kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit in a cross-border raid near the Gaza Strip in 2006.

Germany and Egypt have mediated to broker a deal between the Hamas and Israel, but the gap between the two sides was wide.