Hamas says it would consider the possibility of delivering a letter to the captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit if it could help the stalled prisoner swap deal.

Former US president Jimmy Carter passed a letter from Shalit's parents to Hamas officials on Tuesday during his two-hour meeting with Hamas chief Ismail Haniya.

"We are studying the possibility of handing the letter that Jimmy Carter was carrying to the soldier, who is held captive by us, if this serves the prisoners' swap deal," Abu Obeida, the spokesman for the Hamas armed wing -- the Qassam Brigades -- said Wednesday.

Last year, Hamas allowed Shalit to write to his family as a humanitarian gesture. The letter was passed onto his family by the Carter office in the West Bank.

Since Shalit was captured during a cross-border operation in Gaza in 2006, Hamas and Tel Aviv held several rounds of indirect talks through Egyptian mediators over his fate.

Hamas demands the release of over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails in return for the freedom of Shalit. The government of former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert rejected Hamas demands over a proposed prisoner swap deal and the new Israeli government, which took office in March, has yet to start talks.