Shalit Video on Demand

Hamas demanded (and got!) 20 prisoners to show a one minute video of Gilad Shalit taken at an uncertain point in time.

 

October 3, 2009
Video Shows Captive Israeli Soldier in Good Health
By ISABEL KERSHNER

JERUSALEM — Israel received a video showing the Israeli soldier held captive by Hamas for more than three years, Gilad Shalit, in apparently good health, on Friday after releasing 19 Palestinian women from jail, with one more to be released shortly to complete the deal.

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak were among the senior officials who first saw the video, along with military officials, who checked its authenticity. A copy was then flown by helicopter to northern Israel where the Shalit family watched it privately in their home. The family decided to allow the video to be made public, and it is expected to be broadcast on Israeli television on Friday afternoon.

 

The video is Israel's first glimpse of Sergeant Shalit since June 2006, when he was seized in a cross-border raid by Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups and taken into Gaza.

 

A year later, Hamas released an audiotape of the soldier believed to be authentic. His family has also received at least two letters written in what family members said was his handwriting.

 

The exchange was the most tangible sign of progress so far in years of negotiations for the soldier's release, first through Egyptian mediators and more recently through Germans, and a tentative first step toward a larger deal — though Israeli officials said earlier this week that the negotiations were likely to remain long and arduous.

 

Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza, hailed the deal as a great political achievement. Of the 19 prisoners released, 18 returned to the West Bank and were received by the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, at his headquarters in Ramallah.

 

But the largest celebration was reserved for Fatima Younis Zaq, 45, the only one from Gaza. Ms. Zaq, who is affiliated with the extremist group Islamic Jihad, was arrested in May 2007 at the Erez crossing on her way into Israel. She was charged with having undergone military training and planning a suicide bombing, but had not yet been sentenced. She returned to Gaza on Friday to a hero's welcome along with an infant son who was born in jail, her ninth child.

 

Ismail Haniya, the prime minister of the Hamas government in Gaza, and other leaders greeted Ms. Zaq. "This is a day of victory for the resistance and steadfastness," Mr. Haniya said.

 

Most of the released women were near the end of their prison terms and were no longer considered dangerous, Israeli prison officials said.

 

The former prime minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert, authorized the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in several batches to bolster the standing of Mr. Abbas after Hamas routed his forces and took over Gaza in 2007.

 

But until Friday, no prisoners had been released since the more conservative Mr. Netanyahu came into power in March.

 

After months of apparent stagnation, Hamas now seems eager to project a more proactive image, with its leaders making upbeat statements about a possible reconciliation with Mr. Abbas and his mainstream party, Fatah.

 

With an eye on elections that are supposed to take place in 2010, Hamas is also eager to boost its popularity in the West Bank.

 

The Islamic group is demanding the release of up to 1,000 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails in exchange for Sergeant Shalit. There are up to 11,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons.

 

Osama Mazeini, a Hamas leader, said on Friday that his group would remain "steadfast" in its demands.

 

Taghreed El-Khodary contributed reporting from Gaza.