Tel Aviv/Gaza  - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Saturday that his government will not agree to any ceasefire arrangement with the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip unless captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is freed.

With the two sides appearing further apart on Saturday than in recent days, Hamas also accused Israel of rejecting any truce that had a time limit, as the Islamist organization that rules the Gaza Strip had previously offered.

Olmert also said that the border crossings between Gaza and Israel - on which the territory requires for the transport of food and supplies - would not be opened until Shalit, who was captured during an Israeli military operation in Gaza in 2006, was freed.

The opening of the border crossings has been a precondition of Hamas for any ceasefire agreement.

Since the end of the Israeli offensive against Hamas in Gaza on January 18, Egyptian mediators have attempted to broker a longer-term ceasefire between the two sides.

Hamas announced on Thursday that the long-awaited deal would be announced within three days.

Earlier on Saturday, Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, said that "the ceasefire agreement was drawn up and was waiting to be made public by Egypt but Israel put obstacles by calling for an open ceasefire without any time ceiling.

"When Egypt succeeds in convincing Israel to accept the 18-month ceasefire, it will announce the reaching of the deal," Barhoum continued.

Olmert's office said in a statement published Saturday that "the position of the prime minister is that Israel won't reach any arrangement on a truce before the release of Gilad Shalit."

Israeli air force jets overnight hit targets in the north of the Gaza Strip, with six people injured according to Palestinian reports. An Israeli military spokesman said that two weapons-producing workshops were targeted. dpa