Israel yesterday received a video of a captured soldier and released 19 Palestinian women from its jails in a deal with the Islamist group Hamas that could be a step toward a larger prisoner swap.
Israeli officials said the video of Gilad Shalit, who was captured in June 2006 by Palestinian militants in a cross-border raid, was authenticated before the women were released.
A convoy of Red Cross jeeps carried 18 women through the Beitunya checkpoint into the West Bank and the 19th was taken into the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. A 20th woman prisoner will be released tomorrow, officials said.
The short video of Shalit showed him healthy and coherent, Israel’s Channel 10 television reported.
A copy was to be viewed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the parents of the 23-year-old soldier before any decision to make it public.
The swap is the most positive move in three years of efforts to free Shalit. Brokered by German and Egyptian mediators, it could be a step toward a broader deal for his liberation, in return for the release of hundreds of Hamas prisoners.
It could also herald an end to a crippling Israeli-led blockade of Gaza, which has prevented the territory from rebuilding after Israel’s winter war there.
Israel imposed the blockade after Hamas, a violent group backed by Iran and Syria, seized power in Gaza two years ago. It has refused to lift the embargo until the serviceman is freed.
Shalit was captured in June 2006 by Hamas-linked militants in Gaza, who tunneled under the border into Israel, killed two other soldiers and dragged him bleeding into Palestinian territory.
So far, the only signs of life from him have been several letters and an audio recording. Only one of the letters — written three months after his capture — has been released, just last month. Hamas has not allowed the Red Cross to visit the soldier.
Israel and Hamas shun each other, and German and Egyptian mediators have been acting as go-betweens in swap talks.
A German mediator gave the Shalit videotape to Israel’s lead negotiator, who verified it met three criteria before the Palestinian women were released, an Israeli government official said.
It will not be shown to the public if the family doesn’t want it released, and even if they agree, it wasn’t clear when the footage would be aired, the official said.
He spoke on condition of anonymity before the deal had gone through.
Hamas has said it must receive permission from the German mediator before authorizing the release of copies of the videotape to the media.
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