(Updates with new Hamas comment pararaphs 6-7, edits) By Joseph Nasr JERUSALEM, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Prospects for a stable truce in Gaza ran into trouble on Saturday when Israel insisted on the release of a kidnapped soldier and Hamas accused the Jewish state of deliberately wrecking negotiations. Israel has tied a full opening of its border crossings with Gaza -- a Hamas condition for a ceasefire -- to the release of Gilad Shalit, held captive in Gaza since 2006 when he was seized in a cross-border raid. "The prime minister's position is that Israel will not reach understandings on a truce before the release of Gilad Shalit," Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said in a statement. Palestinian officials had reported significant headway in the indirect talks mediated by Egypt to achieve a longer-term ceasefire after Israel's 22-day offensive against Gaza in December and January. Hamas, the Islamist group that runs Gaza, had said earlier this week that most stumbling blocks had been overcome and a ceasefire would be announced on Sunday, but a Hamas official told Reuters this would not now happen. Osama Hamdan, a Hamas representative in Lebanon, told Al Jazeera television that Israel's raising of the Shalit issue was "a programmed operation to make the deal fail". "We consider that this kind of Israeli procrastination is for the aim of achieving more objectives and wasting more time and effort. But our position is still as it was, and what was agreed has to be implemented fully. Otherwise Israel will bear the consequences of any failure," Hamdan said. POST-ELECTION LANDSCAPE Hamas wants Israel to free hundreds of Palestinians held in its jails in exchange for Shalit. But it wants talks on a prisoner swap deal and the opening of Gaza's crossings to take place after a ceasefire announcement. Fragile ceasefire declarations by both sides on Jan. 17-18 ended the war in Gaza after a three-week Israeli offensive, launched with the declared objective of halting rocket fire from Gaza into its southern towns. Some 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed during the fighting. The ceasefire has largely held but Israel has responded to sparse cross-border rocket fire with air strikes against Hamas targets in Gaza. Olmert's office said any decision on the ceasefire talks would be made while taking into account "the new political circumstances" after an Israeli election produced a strong showing for right-wing parties in parliament. Israeli media said Olmert was hinting he would consult hawkish Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu, favoured to form the next government. Hamas official Taher al-Nono told Reuters from Cairo that efforts were under way to try and overcome what he called "Israeli obstacles" that were delaying the announcement of an agreement. A Hamas spokesman in Gaza, Fawzi Barhoum, said the Egyptian-mediated talks were stalled by disagreement on the duration of the ceasefire. Israel wanted an open-ended ceasefire while Hamas favours an 18-month truce that could be extended. "Once this obstacle is overcome an announcement would be made," Barhoum said. Cross-border violence continued on Saturday. The Israeli army said Palestinian militants detonated an explosive against an army patrol on the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza frontier. (Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza and Yara Bayoumy in Beirut; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
Palestinian youths wave Fatah and Palestinian flags during a demonstration against Israel's controversial separation barrier in the West Bank village of Ma'asarah, near Bethlehem, February 13, 2009. REUTERS/Nayef Hashlamoun (WEST BANK) ...
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