Palestinian newspaper al-Ayyam reported on Friday that Egypt hand over to Israel a letter written by Gilad Shalit, telling his father that he is alive and well.
The newspaper said the letter is the first sign of life from Shalit since his kidnapping in a cross border attack on June 25.
"This is an important development which is likely to seriously open the door for a prisoners swap deal of Palestinian prisoners in return for Gilad Shalit," the newspaper wrote.
A Hamas delegation headed by the group's Gaza politburo Imad al-Alami handed the letter to Egypt two days ago. The letter was delivered to Israel on Friday by Egyptian diplomats.
Hamas insists that lawmakers arrested by Israel after Shalit's kidnapping, as well as Fatah's Marwan Barghouti and Popular Resistance Committee leader Ahmad Saadat, be released part of an exchange deal with Israel.
The newspaper reported that Israel refused to discuss a prisoner exchange deal with the Palestinians before receiving proof that Shalit is alive.
The report said that former deputy Shin Bet head Ofer Dekel, who was appointed by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to negotiate Shalit's release, traveled to Cairo two days ago where he was handed the letter.
Israel conducted forensic handwriting identification tests to check if the letter was indeed written by Shalit, before showing it to Noam Shalit.
Noam Shalit: Media is misleading
Noam Shalit refused to comment on the report, saying "It could be competition between Arab journalists, or misinformation by Hamas people."
Shalit added that Arab media reports about his son have been erroneous.
"I am sure that concrete developments, whenever they may happen, won't be published in any media apparatus, and that's how things should be," he said.
Ahiya Raved contributed to this report
First published: 10:26, 09.15.6