The armed wing of the Hamas militant group has dismissed comments from President Mahmoud Abbas that indicated a solution could be imminent to the case of a captured Israeli soldier.
"Nothing has changed in the case of the Israeli soldier," said Abu Ubaida, official spokesman for the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades.
"The file remains in the hands of the resistance factions and not in the hands of any politician even if that politician is Abu Mazen," Ubaida said.
At least 140 people, over half of whom were civilians have died in Israeli attacks on Palestinian areas since the soldier was captured.
Mr Abbas made his comments while speaking to reporters in Rome after talks with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi.
"I told the prime minister that as far as the question of the abducted Israeli soldier is concerned efforts are undergoing continuously that lead us to believe that the solution will be imminent," he said.
