Gaza/Cairo - Senior officials from Hamas headed for Cairo Monday for talks on a prisoner swap deal involving an Israeli soldier held in the Gaza strip for over three years.

Media reports have indicated that deal is near which would see the soldier, Gilad Shalit, returned to Israel in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians being freed from Israeli jails.

Ayman Taha, a Gaza-based Hamas spokesman, told reporters that the deal could be finalized on the eve of the Muslim holiday Eid el-Adha, due to begin Friday.

Shalit was snatched during a cross-border raid that three Gaza Strip militant groups launched on June 25, 2006. Negotiations over his release have so far not been fruitful. (dpa)