• Hamas frees Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in prisoner swap

    Israeli Defense Forces via AP

    In this photo released by the Israeli Government Press Office, released Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, center, salutes as he is welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, at the Tel Nof Air base in southern Israel on Oct. 18. Looking thin, weary and dazed, the Israeli soldier returned home Tuesday from more than five years of captivity in the Gaza Strip in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners whose joyful families greeted them with massive celebrations.

    Uriel Sinai / Getty Images

    Israeli supporters of captive soldier Gilad Shalit celebrate on his arrival to his home on October 18 in Mitzpe Hila, Israel. Shalit was freed after being held captive for five years in Gaza by Hamas militants, in a deal which saw Israel releasing more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners

     

    From msnbc.com news services:

    JERUSALEM  — Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and hundreds of Palestinians crossed Israel's borders in opposite directions on Tuesday as a thousand-for-one prisoner exchange brought joy to families but did little to ease decades of conflict.

    Sergeant Shalit, 25, returned home to a national outpouring of emotion in Israel after five years in captivity in the Gaza Strip, while the first few hundred of over a thousand Palestinians being freed in stages from Israeli jails were greeted with kisses and flags in Gaza and the West Bank.

    "I missed my family," a pale and extremely thin Shalit said in an interview with Egyptian TV conducted before he was transferred to Israel and broadcast after he went free.

    "I hope this deal will promote peace between Israel and the Palestinians," said Shalit, whose breathing labored at times.

    Click here to see images of Palestinian families waiting for their released relatives.

    Previously on PhotoBlog:

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  • APTN

    Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit is seen giving an interview to Egyptian television after his release on October 18.

    Freed Gilad Shalit says he is in good health

    Reuters reports:

    Freed Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit said on Tuesday he was in good health and he hoped his release in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons would lead to peace between the two peoples.

    In an interview shortly after his release, Shalit, 25, looked tired and dazed, hesitating as he replied to questions from an Egyptian TV reporter.

    Speaking through a translator, Shalit said he would be very happy if remaining Palestinians held in Israeli prisons were freed to return to their own families.

    "Of course I miss my family very much. I also miss my friends," he said. "I hope this deal will lead to peace between Palestinians and Israelis and that it will support cooperation between both sides."

    Follow the latest developments in the Israel-Hamas prisoner swap on BreakingNews.com and read the story in more detail here on msnbc.com.

    Previously on PhotoBlog:

  • APTN

    Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit is seen after his release on October 18, 2011.

    First picture of released Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit

    Reuters reports:

    "Gilad Shalit is home," Israel's chief military spokesman said on Tuesday, confirming that the captive Israeli soldier released by Gaza's Hamas rulers had been returned to Israel in a prisoner swap.

    Brigadier-General Yoav Mordechai made the announcement on live television at Israel's Vineyard of Peace border post with Egypt, where Shalit, 25, crossed into Israel.

    Follow the latest developments in the Israel-Hamas prisoner swap on BreakingNews.com and read the story in more detail here on msnbc.com.

  • Baz Ratner / Reuters

    Aviva (4th right) and Noam Schalit (2nd right), parents of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit, are escorted to a waiting helicopter in Tefen in northern Israel before heading to an air base in the center of the country on October 18. Gaza's Hamas Islamist rulers released Schalit on Tuesday in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, a Hamas military source said, in a deal ending a saga that has gripped Israel for five years. On reaching Israel, Schalit will be flown by helicopter to an air base where he will be greeted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and reunited with his family.

    Gilad Shalit's parents head for air base to be reunited with their son

    Read the latest news on the simultaneous release of Gilad Shalit and the first batch of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners.

  • Euphoria mixed with anxiety in Israel over swap

    AP reports:

    JERUSALEM — Israeli euphoria over a deal to free a soldier held for five years by Hamas gave way Wednesday to growing anxiety that the swap for 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, some of them convicted of murder, could lead to new violence.

    When Israelis first got word Tuesday night of the deal to free Sgt. Gilad Shalit, they erupted in spontaneous celebrations. But that joy was tempered when they learned that about 300 Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis would be among the 1,027 released in exchange.

    Previous PhotoBlog posts on Gilad Shalit.

    Tara Todras-Whitehill / AP

    Israeli President Shimon Peres, right, hugs Noam Schalit, center, the father of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit, as his wife Aviva looks on, at the President's residence in Jerusalem, Wednesday, Oct. 12. Israeli euphoria over a prisoner swap deal to free a soldier held by Hamas militants for five years gave way on Wednesday to a growing anxiety that the release of 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, some of them convicted of murder, could lead to a new round of violence.

    Said Khatib / AFP - Getty Images

    Palestinians celebrate a deal that will see Palestinian detainees freed in exchange for captured Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit on October 12 in Gaza City.

    Abed Al Hashlamoun / EPA

    Palestinians demonstrate in support of Palestinian prisoners held in the Israeli jails, on October 12 in the West Bank city of Hebron.

    Mohammed Salem / Reuters

    Palestinian women take part in a rally calling for the release of their sons held in Israeli jails, inside the headquarters of the International Red Cross in Gaza City October 12.

    Mohammed Salem / Reuters

    Members of Hamas national security forces patrol a street as they celebrate a prisoner swap between Hamas and Israel, in Gaza City October 12.

     

  • Deal reached to free Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit

    By Rich Shulman

    If Israel and Hamas can pull off a deal like this, what's next for the peace process?

    AP reports:

    JERUSALEM — Israeli and Hamas have reached a deal to free a captured Israeli soldier held in the Gaza Strip in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, officials from both sides said Tuesday, capping five years of painful negotiations that have repeatedly collapsed in fingerpointing and violence.

    The deal would bring home Sgt. Gilad Shalit, who was captured in a cross-border raid in June 2006 by Palestinian militants who burrowed into Israel and dragged him into Gaza. Little has been known about his fate since then.

    Mohammed Salem / Reuters

    Palestinian Hamas militants take part in a rally as they celebrate news of a prisoner swap between Hamas and Israel, in Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip October 11. Israel and Gaza's Hamas Islamist rulers agreed on Tuesday to swap more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for Israeli captive soldier Gilad Schalit, resolving one of the most emotive and intractable issues between them.

     

    Gali Tibbon / AFP - Getty Images

    Friends and supporters of Noam and Aviva Schalit, parents of abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit who was captured in 2006 by Hamas-allied militants in the Gaza Strip, sit at the family's protest tent on the 1,934th day for their son's captivity outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem on October 11. According to a senior Palestinian official, Israel will free key Palestinian leader Marwan Barghuti under a prisoner deal in exchange for the release of captive soldier Gilad Schalit.

    Said Khatib / AFP - Getty Images

    Holding a portrait of her son, the mother of Hassan Salame watches a television broadcasting the speech of Hamas leader Khaled Meshaa, celebrating a deal that will see Palestinian detainees freed in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit. Salame is one of the founders of Hamas armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassan Brigades, and is the mastermind of several deadly attacks committed in Israel.

    Abir Sultan / EPA

    Mother Aviva Schalit and father Noam Schalit of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit in the protest tent in Jerusalem on October 11.