(Adds Israeli wounded by Palestinian gunmen)

By Jonathan Saul

JERUSALEM, April 10 (Reuters) - Israeli ministers expressed "disappointment and reservation" over a list of prisoners Hamas has demanded freed in exchange for a captured Israeli soldier, the prime minister's office said on Tuesday.

Hamas, which leads the Palestinian government, has handed over the names of Palestinian prisoners it wants Israel to free in exchange for Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit, who has been held by militants in Gaza for 10 months.

Israeli political sources described the list in its present form as "highly problematic", which Israel could not accept owing to many militants deemed as having "blood on their hands".

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert held his first discussion on the list on Tuesday with security officials, including Defence Minister Amir Peretz, his office said in a statement.

"During the discussion, disappointment and reservation were expressed over the list of prisoners Hamas is asking to be freed," the statement said.

"Israel will continue its contacts with Egypt on the matter," the statement added.

Hamas handed the names of the prisoners to Israel via mediator Egypt.

Israeli political sources said plans to convene a special ministerial committee to look into whether to loosen criteria for releasing prisoners in an exchange deal had been put on hold for now. Any changes the committee would have proposed would need cabinet approval.

Ghazi Hamad, an aide to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, said: "If Israel continues to insist on its own criteria, it will be responsible for the failure to reach a deal."

1,400 NAMES ON LIST

A Hamas cabinet minister, Wasfi Kabha, told Reuters on Monday that there are around 1,400 names on the list, including Marwan Barghouthi, a Fatah leader widely seen as a possible successor to moderate President Mahmoud Abbas.

An exchange deal, after months of deadlock, could be key to any progress in talks Olmert and Abbas are to hold on a biweekly basis at the urging of the United States.

The statement from Olmert's office said while there had been "some progress in negotiations, they are far from being completed".

"The various reports that have appeared in this context must be treated with due caution in order not to create false hopes," the statement said.

Shalit was seized last June by militants from Hamas and two other armed groups who tunnelled into Israel from Gaza.

Freeing leading militants from Israeli jails is a highly emotive issue for Palestinians, as well as for Israelis who have lost relatives in attacks. "We know for sure that a prime minister who will sign to release terrorists right now will bring chaos immediately," said Meir Indor, director of the Israeli Terror Victims' Association Al-Magor.

In fresh violence, an Israeli hitchhiker was seriously wounded by Palestinian gunmen as he waited at a junction in the northern part of the West Bank, an Israeli military spokeswoman said.

The ZAKA rescue service said the man was from Immanuel settlement. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

(Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza))

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