JERUSALEM, July 10 — In dueling press conferences, the top Hamas leader said today that a captured Israeli soldier would not be freed without the release of Palestinian prisoners, while Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel ruled out any negotiations with the radical Islamic groups holding the soldier.
Though there were hints that behind-the-scenes package deals could be in the making that may involve the release of Palestinian prisoners at a later stage, Mr. Olmert forcefully rejected dealing with Hamas, which leads the Palestinian government and which claimed responsibility for the seizure of the soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who was abducted on June 25.
“I think that trading prisoners with a bloody terror organization such as Hamas is a major mistake,” Mr. Olmert told reporters at a news conference in Jerusalem. “I want it to be very clear: I don’t negotiate with Hamas, I did not negotiate with Hamas and I will not negotiate with Hamas.”
Shortly after Mr. Olmert spoke, the overall Hamas leader, Khaled Meshal, held his own news conference in Damascus, Syria.
“The solution is simple: Exchange prisoners,” Mr. Meshal said. “There will be no freedom for the Israeli prisoner without an exchange involving Palestinian detainees.”
Mr. Meshal was also critical of the United States and the West for placing so much emphasis on one captive Israeli, when Israel is holding nearly 9,000 Palestinian prisoners.
“The aggression did not start with the imprisonment of the soldier,” Mr. Meshal said.
Speaking of Israel’s current operations in Gaza, he said, “Israel is practicing state terrorism, and is in violation of international law.”
The Hamas leader said the soldier was seized in a “clean military operation,” and that Hamas considered him a prisoner of war.
Meanwhile, Mr. Olmert said of the Hamas leader: “Khaled Meshal is a terrorist with blood on his hands. He is not a legitimate partner for anything.”
In Gaza, the International Committee of the Red Cross said it had offered to mediate in the crisis, and that it was trying to see the Israeli soldier, but had not been granted access by the captors.
Israel carried out an air strike today in Gaza City that killed one Palestinian militant and wounded five other people, including an eight-year-old girl. The attack was on a Hamas vehicle packed with explosives; the militants in it tried to escape before it exploded.
Another air strike today, in the village of Abassan in southern Gaza, killed two members of Islamic Jihad in a car. The group said its men were attempting to carry out an attack on Israeli forces who have taken up positions in the area. The two men were buried later in the day, surrounded by armed militants firing weapons and chanting slogans.
Since Israel began its offensive nearly two weeks ago, about 50 Palestinians have been killed, most of them militants, but also including several civilians. One Israeli soldier has been killed accidentally by fire from other Israelis, according to the military.
While there are no signs of a breakthrough, some Israeli officials have suggested that Israel could agree to release some Palestinian prisoners at a future date if several things happen first: Corporal Shalit is released, Palestinian rocket fire into Israel is halted, and a renewed and more formal general cease-fire takes hold.
The Palestinian prime minister, Ismail Haniya of Hamas, called on Saturday for a mutual cease-fire, but Israel rejected a ceasefire while Corporal Shalit is held.
Mr. Olmert told his Cabinet on Sunday that before the soldier was seized, Israel had been prepared to hand over some prisoners to the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, who opposes attacks on Israel and seeks a resumption of negotiations.
The soldier’s father, Noam Shalit, has spoken out in favor of a deal to resolve the crisis, and opinion polls show a solid majority of Israelis support this position.
“I say again, I think it is clear to everyone that we won’t get something for nothing in the Middle East,” Mr. Shalit told Israel radio.
Israeli leaders say they believe a tough military response will discourage the Palestinians from seizing soldiers, firing rockets or launching other attacks against Israel.
But Mr. Shalit urged the government not to try to rewrite the rules of the conflict right now, saying his family was “less interested in changing the rules of the game in the region, and is more interested in Gilad coming home alive and well.”
Some European countries have criticized Israel’s military actions in Gaza, describing them as disproportionate and too hard on the civilian population. Mr. Olmert rejected this, saying the attention should be on the daily Palestinian rocket fire from northern Gaza into southern Israel.
“When was the last time that the European Union condemned this shooting, and suggested effective measures to stop it?” Mr. Olmert said. “At some point, Israel had no choice but to take some measures.”
The European Union has regularly called on Palestinian militants not to fire rockets into Israel.
The Israeli prime minister said Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza last year raised hopes that the territory and the surrounding region of southern Israel would be calm. He acknowledged that the recent Israeli military actions had made life more difficult for impoverished Gazans, but blamed the armed Palestinians factions for the crisis.
“The people of Gaza deserve to have a different quality of life, and what we wanted was a quiet and peaceful border,” Mr. Olmert said of the withdrawal. “But there hasn’t been a day of rest for the people inside Israel” because of the rocket fire.
The Gaza crisis has put on hold Mr. Olmert’s main political initiative, his “realignment” plan, which calls for removing some Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
The Gaza crisis will “slow realignment,” Mr. Olmert said, though he insisted he was still committed to the plan. “The concept of realignment is basically a concept of gradually separating the Israelis and the Palestinians,” he said. “We want to separate in a friendly manner and live alongside each other.”
Steven Erlanger contributed reporting for this article from Gaza City.