Prisoner swap negotiations over the release of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit have "collapsed" due to policies set by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Hamas official Mahmoud Zahar said Tuesday in an interview with the BBC.

The talks, aimed at seeing Shalit freed after three years of captivity, reached a standstill earlier this month despite repeated reports of progress. Zahar told the BBC that the process has "failed".

The daily Okaz reported on Tuesday that Hamas has decided to halt temporarily negotiations for Shalit's release due to the murder of a top group commander, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, in Dubai last month.
Advertisement
That report came despite an internal Hamas probe suggesting that Arab agents, and not Israel, were behind Mabhouh's assassination.

A senior Hamas official told the paper that the talks had reached a critical juncture and reiterated the group's stance that Israel is responsible for the delay in its completion.

Meanwhile, Israeli activists fighting for Shalit's release renewed their demonstrations on Tuesday at the Gaza border. The activists, acting independently of the official Friends of Gilad Shalit campaign gathered at the border to block fuel truck en route to Gaza