Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Tuesday that the blockade of Gaza would only be lifted after captured soldier Gilad Shalit is released, a condition Hamas has rejected.

"We want first to resolve the Shalit issue and then will look into the reopening of crossings and the rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip," Olmert said.

Similar statements on Sunday prompted Hamas to accuse Israel of backtracking on the terms of a proposed long-term Gaza truce by linking the lifting of the blockade to Shalit's release.

Shalit was captured in a cross-border raid from Gaza more than two years ago. Hamas, the Islamist ruler of Gaza, insists that Shalit will be freed in a separate prisoner exchange deal with Israel.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has also said the reopening of the crossings should not be tied to a release of the captive soldier.

"Egypt will not change its position on the truce, the matter of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is a separate issue which can in no way be linked to the truce negotiations," the Tuesday edition of state-owned Al-Ahram daily quoted Mubarak as saying.

Speaking during a visit to the Western, or Wailing, Wall in Jerusalem, Olmert said he was "not aware of any Egyptian criticism against us."

Egypt has been acting as a go-between in efforts to consolidate the separate ceasefires that ended Israel's deadly 22-day Gaza offensive on 18 January.

Olmert said he welcomed Egypt's efforts to stop weapons smuggling into the Gaza Strip, "as this will make it possible to bring back calm to communities in southern Israel which are the target of incessant rocket fire."

He stressed there was no formal accord with the Egyptians "but an understanding under which they will do their utmost to halt the weapons smuggling."

AFP