GAZA CITY: Israel released 19 Palestinian women prisoners on Friday in exchange for a two-minute Hamas videotape that showed captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit alive.
Dressed in olive drab military fatigues, Shalit rose from the chair and read a prepared statement tucked behind an Arabic-language newspaper dated Sept. 14. The video was intended to demonstrate he could stand on his own and the images were the latest.
Reading in Hebrew, he sent his love to his parents, recalled in detail a 2005 visit his family paid to his military base and appealed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “not to squander this opportunity” to bring him home.
Shalit was captured three-and-a-half-years ago by fighters linked to Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The video’s arrival in Israel, together with the Palestinian prisoners’ triumphant return home to a flag-waving and cheering crowd, gave hope to each side that a wider, long-awaited prisoner swap was in the offing. One of the women released brought home a 20-month-old boy born in prison. The swap was brokered by German and Egyptian diplomats.
Hamas’ deposed prime minister in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, hailed the deal as a “triumph” for the armed Palestinian resistance against Israel.
Israel is holding an estimated 8,500 Palestinian prisoners in its jails, and Hamas wants some 1,200 freed, including 450 who were directly involved in violence.
“Although the path to his (Shalit’s) release is still long and difficult, the knowledge that he is healthy encourages us all,” Netanyahu was quoted as saying by his spokesman Nir Hefetz.
Shalit was last seen by Israelis when Palestinian fighters tunneled into Israel from the Gaza Strip and killed two of his fellow soldiers. Two attackers were also killed and Shalit was captured.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has not visited Shalit and only a few letters and an audiotape have reached his parents, who have waged a campaign for his release.
Israeli officials said the video was authenticated before the women were released.
— With input from agencies
