Hamas on Saturday insisted that Israel has to free 450 prisoners the Islamic movement has demanded as part or a larger number before brokering a prisoner exchange deal.

"We want Israel to release them and we will not drop any of our fair demands," said Osama al-Muzini, a Hamas official based in Gaza Strip. "We are serious to succeed because releasing 450 of the long-sentence prisoners would be a unique achievement."

Hamas demands Israel to free more than 1,000 prisoners in exchange for Gilad Shalit, a corporal Hamas captured in a cross-border raid near the Gaza Strip in 2006. The Islamic movement insists on choosing the names of the 450 detainees who would be freed in the swap.

Al-Muzini said the 450 people represent various groups of Palestinians and Arabs as "a complete national package and removing any name would be at the expense of one of these groups."

The Egyptian-mediated negotiations so far has failed to push for an exchange agreement.

Meanwhile, al-Muzini said his movement welcomes any international effort by any country to mediate in this case. Earlier, some European and Islamic countries tried to intervene but "failed due to the Israeli stiffness."