Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said yesterday that captured Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit will be freed soon.

"The issue of Palestinian prisoners will be resolved soon, and they will be released along with the Israeli soldier," Haniyeh told reporters at the El-Arish airport in northern Sinai. "We must continue to pressure Israel to close this deal as quickly as possible, so that the Israeli soldier and the Palestinian prisoners will be released soon."

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Haniyeh added that he has received positive signals from Egyptian mediators working to secure a prisoner exchange between Israel and the Palestinians.

However, this is not the first time that Haniyeh has optimistically predicted an imminent swap.

Meanwhile, the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt was temporarily closed by European monitors yesterday afternoon, after Haniyeh passed through the crossing with his car, in violation of an agreement reached two weeks ago. Under that agreement, the prime minister must pass through the crossing on foot, with no special privileges.

Haniyeh's passage through the crossing in a vehicle angered the European monitors stationed there, and they temporarily shut down the crossing, leaving hundreds of Palestinians stranded on both sides.

Haniyeh crossed into Egypt yesterday en route to a pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. From Saudi Arabia, he will proceed to Kuwait, Qatar and Jordan.