Cpl. Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held in Gaza, will be released soon, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in a television interview on Friday. "We are undertaking efforts to free Shalit and these efforts will soon come to fruition," Abbas told France 24 television. Shalit was seized last June in a cross-border raid from Gaza into southern Israel. "We are optimistic. He will be freed soon," Abbas was quoted as saying by Reuters. Abbas said there were also 9,500 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel who should be released too, although he said the two issues were not related.