Gaza, 3 July (AKI) - Kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit will remain in captivity until the Jewish state ends its blockade of Gaza, Islamist Palestinian group Hamas' armed wing said on Thursday.

"There will be no movement on Shalit's case until Israel ends its embargo against Gaza and respects the truce," the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Ubeida said in a statement posted to the militia's website.

Ubeida dismissed as "completely unfounded" a report in Egyptian weekly Al-Ahram al-Arabi that Hamas had delivered a videotaped message from Shalit proving he was still alive.

Egyptian mediated talks have been taking place in Cairo to negotiate Shalit's release. He was seized by Palestinian militants in June 2006 in a cross-border raid.

Several authenticated letters written by the soldier are the only sign that Shalit (photo)may still be alive.

Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad on Thursday claimed Israel has repeatedly violated the Egyptian brokered truce in the Gaza Strip which began on 19 June.

The six-month ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel orders Palestinian factions to stop firing rockets into Israel, while Israel is required to stop its attacks into Gaza and ease the blockade.

Israel imposed the embargo on the Gaza Strip when Hamas took over the territory in June, 2007.

Islamic Jihad violated the truce in its first week by firing a rocket into Israel to retaliate for an Israeli army operation in West Bank.