A senior Palestinian official on Thursday said a progress was made on the case of releasing captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for a number of Palestinian prisoners.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said an Egyptian mediator who arrived in Israel on Tuesday met Israeli officials "and a big progress was made in these meetings."

The Egyptian envoy left the Jewish state on Wednesday and headed to Cairo to brief his administration on the outcomes.

He will also inform Hamas, the Palestinian faction that holds Shalit since 2006, about the results of his talks with the Israeli officials, according to the Palestinian source.

But the official did not reveal what the progress was.

The prisoners swap talk came to a standstill after Israel rejected Hamas' demand to select the names of the first 450 prisoners, out of more than 1,000 who would be freed in exchange for the Israeli corporal.

Meanwhile, a Hamas official confirmed that the indirect talks between his movement and Israel have resumed recently.

"They were resumed after Israel realized that the pressures can not bring their fruits in forcing Hamas to change its mind," said Ali Baraka who is based in Damascus.

Baraka denied that Hamas accepted the Israeli-offered compromises. The Israeli government "realized that it can do nothing but to accept the demands: the release of 450 prisoners of long sentences in addition to all women and children."