A pro-Hamas news website reported Tuesday that captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was snatched by Gaza militants in a cross-border raid in 2006, has been watching the FIFA World Cup matches while in captivity in the Gaza Strip.

Open gallery view IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, captured by Hamas in 2006. Credit: Archive

Shalit has been following the daily matches on the pro-Hamas al-Aqsa satellite channel, al-Resallah news reported.

Hamas and two other minor militant groups kidnapped Shalit in a raid between the southeastern Gaza Strip and Israel in June 2006.

The report said watching the soccer matches helps Shalit forget his despair "after the Israeli government decided to suspend indirect talks to finalize the swap deal with Hamas."

The report, which does not quote any sources within Hamas or among Shalit's captors and reads like propaganda, claims that the abducted soldier is tired of the Israeli politicians' lies and their false vows to secure his release, and therefore he is focusing on the World Cup games because he understands that the Israeli public is more focused on soccer than on him.

Egypt, and later Germany, had tried to finalize a prisoner exchange deal between Hamas and Israel. However, the efforts collapsed after Hamas insisted that Israel free 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, including those who were directly involved in terror attacks against Israelis.

The report said Shalit, who holds French nationality, "was very sad when France was defeated by Mexico during the World Cup matches held in South Africa."