Abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit is still suffering from wounds sustained when he was kidnapped, and is being held in conditions that are not suitable for proper treatment, a senior Hamas official said Tuesday.

Osama al-Mezeini, who represented Hamas in the Egyptian-mediated talks on Shalit's release, said the soldier suffered several wounds during the abduction that have yet to heal.

In an interview with Islamic Jihad's Al-Quds Radio, al-Mezeini added that the sanitary conditions at the isolated location in which Shalit is being held.

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In an audio tape released by Hamas on Monday, the abducted soldier said his health was deteriorating, and that he would need to be hospitalized for a long period of time.

A wide range of IDF and Fatah sources have said, however, that Shalit was only lightly wounded in the raid, and was abducted while able to walk under his own power.

A spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees, which is one of three Hamas-linked groups that kidnapped Shalit, said Monday that Shalit is in good health.

"Shalit is alive and in very good shape," Abu Mujahid said, "His health is good and he's stable. We are treating him according to our religion's instructions on how to deal with war prisoners."

A senior defense official said Tuesday that an audio tape purportedly from abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit is authentic and was recorded recently.

"The release of the tape is a sign of Hamas' weakness, and the fact that the organization is taking responsibility for Shalit's health is a positive sign," the official told Israel Radio, one day after Hamas released the tape on the anniversary of the soldier's abduction last year.

The Israeli intelligence community does not have much experience in analyzing tapes released by militant organizations, and the Shalit tape is the first time in which a hostile group has released an audio recording of an Israeli captive.

The technological departments in IDF Military Intelligence and the Shin Bet security service were placed in charge of identifying the voice on the tape and analyzing its content, with the aid of voice samples and Shalit's relatives. Investigators hope that background noise in the tape will help them determine the location in which Shalit is being held.

In a recording posted on a Hamas Web site, the voice identified as Shalit said he was disappointed over the Israeli government's lack of interest in his fate.

"I am Gilad, son of Noam Shalit, prisoner of the Izz el-Din al-Qassam Kataib [Brigades]," the message began, using the Arabic word for brigades - strengthening suspicions he was reading a dictated statement.

"Mom and Dad, brother and sister, my friends in the IDF - I send my love and miss you all dearly. It has been a year since I was captured, and my health is deteriorating. I am in need of prolonged hospitalization." (For the full text of the Shalit tape, click here)

Speaking after the release of the tape, Shalit's father Noam said the tape appeared to be authentic, although the content was "obviously dictated."

Noam Shalit called on the government to "advance matters" regarding his son's fate, provided that the release of the tape was a genuine sign from Hamas that the group is interested in making a deal.