GAZA, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- The German mediator negotiating the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit has offered "new ideas" to advance a swap, a Hamas official said.
In an interview published Tuesday in the London-based newspaper al-Hayat, a Hamas official said Gerhard Konrad raised a number of "new ideas he brought along to advance the matter" in meetings with Hamas officials in Gaza last week.
The official, whose name was withheld, said Konrad is due to return to Gaza with clarifications to requests made by Hamas officials, the newspaper said.
The official said Hamas is waiting for Israel's response. He said Hamas has not changed its demand that Israel release all Palestinian prisoners whose names appeared on a list drawn up by Hamas and given to Israel last year.
"Signing an agreement will be made possible only when Israel shows serious intentions and sincerity to do so," the official told the paper.
The official said while the movement does not want to continue holding Shalit, "we will only agree to release him as part of an honorable swap."
Shalit was serving near the Gaza border in June 2006 when he was abducted and taken to Gaza where he has been held incommunicado.
