Special report: Palestine-Israel Relations    

    JERUSALEM, May 12 (Xinhua) -- The release of Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit plays a key role in resolving the security situation in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Monday.

    Barak made the remarks during a meeting at his Tel Aviv residence with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, whose visit to Israel on Monday may lead to progress in terms of the Shalit issue, as Suleiman serves as the main contact with Hamas and the soldier's kidnappers, who abducted Shalit in a cross-border raid in June 2006.

    "Israel views Gilad Shalit's release and the progress made in the talks for his release as having a key role in resolving the security situation in the Gaza Strip," Barak was quoted by local daily Yedioth Ahronoth as saying.

    Barak also said during the 40-minute meeting with Suleiman that Israel cannot continue exercising restraint over the ongoing terror from Gaza.

    After the face-to-face meeting, they later held a discussion in a larger forum.

    Barak estimated that Israel would have to operate in Gaza in more extensive manner should the Palestinians fail to cease the mortar shell and Qassam rocket fire and the smuggling of weapons, rockets and terror activists into Gaza.

    "Israel must maintain its ability to operate in the Judea and Samaria in a way that will guarantee its citizen's safety," Barak said after the meeting.

    Suleiman said before the meeting that he had "high expectations" that the outline of a truce between Israel, Hamas and the armed organizations in Gaza would be implemented.

    After talks with Suleiman in Cairo last month, Hamas offered a six-month ceasefire with Israel in Gaza if Israel lifts an embargo on the coastal Palestinian territory.

    However, Israel rebuffed the initiative when it was broached, calling it a ruse aimed at allowing Hamas to recover from recent fighting.