GAZA, July 4 (Reuters) - Hamas's leader in Gaza said on Wednesday he hoped the release of BBC journalist Alan Johnston by kidnappers may set a precedent for a deal with Israel to free a soldier seized a year ago. "As the case of Alan Johnston has ended, we hope that the case of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit may end too in an honourable deal that would secure the release of our hero prisoners from Israeli jails," Ismail Haniyeh told a news conference, sitting alongside the freed BBC correspondent. Shalit was seized from an Israeli border post in June last year by militants from Hamas and other groups who are demanding the release of prisoners by Israel in exchange for his freedom. Haniyeh said there was a chance for a deal if the Israelis "deal with logic and reason and act in order to end the humanitarian suffering of Palestinian prisoners". "The ball is in the Israeli court," he said. Israel has demanded Shalit's release but is not prepared to release the prisoners that Hamas and its allies are seeking. Johnston was abducted in March by an al Qaeda-inspired clan group in Gaza, the Army of Islam, and freed after pressure and negotiations by officials from Hamas, which seized control of the enclave from the rival Fatah faction three weeks ago.
