Israel plays down reports of imminent Gaza deal

"The international community should be pushing for his release and should be pushing for such a visit."

"PACKAGE DEALS"

Hamas, which seized control of Gaza two years ago in fighting with Fatah-led forces, is keen to bolster its support among the 1.5 million Gazans by improving supplies.

Aziz Dweik, the speaker of the Hamas-dominated Palestinian parliament elected in 2006, told Reuters on Thursday, two days after he was released himself from an Israeli prison: "The Egyptians are behind the package deal which is expected to speak about the truce, to speak about opening all the crossings to (the) Gaza Strip and to speak about Shalit."

"We would like (it) to be accomplished in the very few coming days because I left ... almost 11,000 prisoners in Israeli jails," Dweik added, speaking in English.

During a European tour this week that included talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy which touched on the Shalit case, Netanyahu said on Tuesday: "We are making efforts on various levels. We are now testing various possibilities."

One possibility, cited by an Israeli political source, was that a step-by-step deal could begin with Hamas moving Shalit to Egypt, where he would stay with access to his family. Israel, in turn, would begin to open Gaza's border crossings. The two sides would then hammer out a final agreement on Hamas prisoners.

The possible complexity of any deal is daunting, however:

- Israel wants Shalit back and an end to threats from Hamas, which has peppered southern Israel with rockets from Gaza;

- Hamas wants hundreds of its own prisoners released, both by Israel and by Abbas's Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, as well as promises from Israel not to renew attacks on Gaza;