Video shows Gilad Shalit alive
Updated on 02 October 2009
A two-minute video of an Israeli soldier held captive by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas for the past three years shows him "smiling, healthy and coherent."
In the classic "proof of life" gesture, Gilad Shalit was shown holding an Arabic-language newspaper dated 14 Sept, said one official who saw the video.
Wearing olive-green military fatigues, the seated soldier read out a lengthy statement in Hebrew. His voice sounded shaky but he appeared calm and healthy, apart from dark circles under his eyes.
"I hope and I am waiting a long time for the day I will be released," he said.
The recorded images of Shalit, 23, were handed over in exchange for Israel's release of 20 Palestinian women from its jails, one of whom brought home a 20-month-old boy born in prison to a joyful reception in the Islamist-run Gaza Strip.
The swap with Hamas, brokered by German and Egyptian diplomacy, could be a step towards a larger prisoner release and eventual freedom for Shalit, top priorities for Israel and Hamas since his capture in a June 2006 cross-border raid.
"I hope this is going to be a step on the way to freeing our men and women prisoners from occupation jails," said Hamas prime minister in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh.
"I hope it will be step towards Palestinian reconciliation and national unity. I see the Palestinian people today united behind this step," he told a crowd welcoming home Fatim al-Zaq who was pregnant when arrested and gave birth in jail.
Israel had said Friday's deal was a confidence-building gesture before crucial stages in negotiations for Shalit's release, and added that lengthy and difficult negotiations were still ahead before any final swap.
Israeli officials said the video of Shalit was authenticated before 19 of the women were released.
The video was handed over as a convoy of Red Cross jeeps carried 18 freed women prisoners over the Beitunya checkpoint into the West Bank while al-Zaq went to Gaza with her baby. The final prisoner in the swap was due to be released on Sunday.
