Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says his country will have to make difficult decisions in the negotiations with Hamas to bring back a kidnapped soldier.

Two years ago Hamas-affiliated militants captured Gilad Shalit in a cross-border raid.
On Monday, Olmert said that "the negotiations for Shalit are being finalized," but the solution "won't be simple, easy or quick."

"It was clear to me that either we embraced the decision as it was brought to us, or the result might have been that we would lose contact with the soldiers for many years without being able to know what happened to them."

Meanwhile, Hamas has demanded Israel to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

However, Israel has rejected many of the names on Hamas' list claiming they have been involved in deadly attacks against Israelis.

Israel and Hamas reached an Egypt-brokered truce earlier last month, which requires the parties to step up negotiations on Shalit's release.