Egypt has demanded that Hamas immediately release an Israel Defense Forces soldier captured by Palestinian militants tied to the group to avoid a worsening crisis in the violence-battered Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials and Arab diplomats said late Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Vice Premier Shimon Peres on Wednesday accused the exiled Hamas leadership, now based in Syria, of blocking a deal for the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit.

The Hamas power base in Damascus includes political leader Khaled Meshal, who Peres said was preventing a deal for the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit, abducted by Hamas-linked militants who tunneled under the Gaza-Israel border in a June 25 attack on his base.

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"The one who increases the tension in Gaza is the [Hamas] leadership in Syria," Peres said before heading into a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.

"They prevent the Palestinians from releasing the prisoner, which increases the tension all the time and the focus must be on this extreme leadership in Damascus," he said.

The Egyptian demand came in a "strongly worded letter" from Egypt's powerful intelligence chief Omar Suleiman to Meshal, the officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the letter.

Suleiman's letter also demanded Hamas cooperate fully with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in forming a national unity government, a step that has been stalled by the militant group's refusal to form an administration that recognizes Israel.

The message reflected increasing impatience with Hamas by Egypt, which has been mediating for months, trying to reach a deal on a prisoner swap for the release of Shalit.

"The leadership has received the Egyptian letter today and is studying it" a Hamas official close to Meshal told the Associated Press from Damascus.

Separately, a UN rights expert said in Geneva that rights situation for Palestinians has deteriorated to a new low, and blamed the United States, Canada and Europe for contributing to the "tragic" situation.

John Dugard, a South African, said Israel is largely responsible for the "intolerable" situation for Palestinians, three quarters of whom depend on food aid.

"I hope that my portrayal of hardships experienced by such people will trouble the consciences of those accustomed to turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to the suffering of the Palestinian people," Dugard told the UN Human Rights Council, the global body's rights watchdog.

Itzhak Levanon, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, rejected Dugard's allegations as "one-sided" and not reflecting reality.

"This report is characterized by errors of omission as well as distortions of both fact and law," he said, adding that Dugard described the situation in the Palestinian territories "in oversimplified manner."