The Palestinians holding Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit captive in Gaza move him from hideout to hideout twice a week, officials close to the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the radical Islamist Hamas movement, said Thursday, DPA reported.
The officials said in statements published on local Gaza news sites that Hamas changes the hideouts for fear that Israel was planning a "selective military operation to free Shalit."
"Hamas is smart enough to keep Shalit's hideout a top secret," said the officials.
Shalit was captured in a June 2006 cross-border raid from Gaza on a southern Israeli military base.
So far, Egyptian and German mediators have failed to finalize a prisoners swap between Hamas and Israel. The Islamist movement ruling Gaza is demanding the freedom of some 1,000 jailed Palestinian militants and radicals in exchange for the Israeli soldiers.
The officials added that the Qassam Brigades earlier this week "arrested" several Palestinians who allegedly collaborated with Israel and tried to follow Qassam militants to find Shalit's hideout.