Israel and Hamas close to Shalit deal

JERUSALEM, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- Israel and Hamas agreed on the names of 230 Palestinian prisoners seen to be part of a prisoner swap for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, the Israeli army said.

Palestinian militants abducted Shalit in a cross-border raid in June 2006.

Israel loosened its criteria for categorizing Palestinian prisoners alleged to have killed Israelis, Haaretz said Monday. Israel used the euphemism "blood on their hands" to describe militants it wouldn't release, but the loosening of the criteria increased the number of prisoners Israel would consider in exchange for Shalit.

Shalit's relatives said Monday they weren't that optimistic about his release. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made similar statements Sunday.

Olmert also said Israel would continue under the assumption that reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, in the custody of Hezbollah, were alive. The German magazine Der Speigel said Saturday that Olmert was considering declaring them dead.