Palestinian prisoners and an Israeli soldier seized last June could be swapped soon if Israel cooperates on a list of names of detainees handed over to it for release from its jails, the spokesman for the Palestinian prime minister said on Saturday.

The handover of the list of (Palestinian) prisoners “is going to give a great momentum and boost” to the affair, Ismail Haniya’s spokesman told AFP.

“We are awaiting Israel’s position on these names,” added Ghazi Hamad speaking in Gaza. “If Israel cooperates in a serious manner on this file, I think that the (exchange) operation can be realized in a short time.”

Earlier on Saturday, Palestinian information minister Mustafa al-Barghuti said Egypt had given Israel a list of Palestinian prisoners to free in exchange for Corporal Gilad Shalit, whose capture in a cross-border raid on June 25 sparked a two-month Israeli incursion into the Gaza Strip in which nearly 200 Palestinians were killed.

An Egyptian delegation “has informed the Palestinian government that the procedure for an exchange (of prisoners) has started,” Barghuti told a news conference in Ramallah.

“The Egyptians have transmitted (to Israel) a list of names of Palestinian prisoners who must be freed. Everything that has been demanded on the Palestinian side has been transmitted; the ball is now in the Israeli camp.”

A source close to the Palestinian government told AFP that the list carried the names of 450 prisoners, without saying whether it included senior leaders of Palestinian factions seized by the Israelis.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s spokesman would not comment on Barghuti’s statement.

Shalit, 20, was abducted by militants from three Palestinian groups, including the armed wing of Hamas.

On Friday, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said he was confident Gaza militants would soon release the Israeli soldier and an abducted BBC journalist, Alan Johnston.

“I would like to say that we are working to secure Shalit’s release and that these efforts will soon bear fruit. We are optimistic. He will be released soon,” Abbas told the France 24 news channel.

“I am convinced we must free the soldier Shalit. He cannot remain imprisoned all this time.”

Abbas added: “At the same time, we say to the Israelis that they must free the Palestinian prisoners. But one thing does not depend on the other. Shalit must be released.”