Jerusalem – Palestinian officials in Gaza said a captured Israeli soldier was moved across the border into Egypt early Tuesday, beginning an elaborate prisoner swap deal in which hundreds of Palestinian inmates are to be freed in return for the captured tank crewman.
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The officials said an SUV filled with armed men whisked Sgt. Gilad Schalit across the border and quickly returned to Gaza early Tuesday. Buses of Palestinian prisoners were also beginning to move from Israel into Egypt en route to Gaza, the said.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. Israel’s Army Radio station, citing anonymous Israeli officials, confirmed the report.
In all, Israel is slated to release 1,027 prisoners for Schalit, who had been held in Gaza since he was captured more than five years ago by Palestinian militants in a cross-border raid.
Before dawn, convoys of white vans and trucks transported hundreds of Palestinian prisoners to the locations in the West Bank and on the Israel-Egypt border where they were to be freed. In Gaza, the Red Cross confirmed that the prisoners slated for release had arrived at the nearby border crossing.
The exchange, negotiated through Egyptian mediators because Israel and Hamas will not talk directly to each other, is going ahead despite criticism and court appeals in Israel against the release of the prisoners. Nearly 300 of them were serving lengthy sentences for involvement in deadly attacks.
The exchange involves a delicate series of staged releases, each one triggering the next. The Red Cross and Egyptian officials are involved in facilitating the movement of prisoners.
In Gaza, Hamas militants deployed in force along the road leading into Egypt where Schalit was to be taken. Shortly thereafter, hundreds of returning Palestinians were slated to enter Gaza on the same road.
When Tuesday’s exchange is complete, 477 Palestinians held in Israeli jails, including 27 women, will have been released, several of them after decades behind bars. The other 550 are set to be released in two months.
Schalit will be brought to an Israeli military base along the Egypt border, where he will be issued a new military uniform and given another medical examination, according to the Israeli military.
Although he appeared healthy in the only time he has been seen in captivity — in a brief and scripted 2009 video released by Hamas — he was denied all visits, including by the Red Cross, and the state of his mental and physical health is unclear.
Schalit will then be flown by helicopter to an air force base in central Israel, where he will meet his parents, as well as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the defense minister and military chief of staff.
An intense media campaign to free Schalit made him a national symbol in Israel, and all local radio and TV stations held special live broadcasts Tuesday, following every development as the exchange progressed.
I hope we won’t regret this!
Tomorrow we will see jubilant palestinians dancing and celebrating with these murderers. The best PR Israel can do is to take these pictures and place them next to the pictures of the carnage they caused. The entire world should see how Hamas / Palestinians celebrate with these savages. The world should especially see the picture of the murderer showing everyone his bloody hands of the soldier he killed and a picture how is welcomed back,.
Time to say a few kapitlach tehilim.
And so will we be jubillant
I hope that Gilad will make the bracha of Matir Asirim with great kavanah
Ok Israel, now u know what u gotta do- bomb that podium to smitherines!! How many other opportunities come your way to wipe out 1000 blood soaked murderers. Once Gilad’s safe, blow ’em up!
I agree with Eigner. Whoever is reading this, if you can, say a chapter or two of Tehillim for Gilad to be in good health and that Hashem will protect the citizens of Eretz Yisrael from these released terrorists. Hakol bidei Shamayim!
all we can hope is that israel has a plan which will make this move understood after all
i saw a good point on arutz7.com. gilad was hamas’ only real hold on israel. with him iyh home safely, hamas has no leverage over israel and then, with Hashems help, israel can really take out hamas
For all of us who HAVE said תהילים for Schalit over the years, and who HAVE incorporated a מי שברך in our davening on his behalf, there is sense of satisfaction in seeing our pleas answered. We are not thrilled to see 1,000 murderers turned free but trust that HaShem, who ultimately runs things, has a plan. This “sudden” deal with our enemies would not have happened unless there was some eternal plan. Whether we will eventually “regret” this swap could be how HaShem judges OUR actions moving forward.
Some of us are always quick to make statements such as “HaShem is sending us a message” or “HaShem is trying to tell us something” when we’ve already figured out what the message is and assuming that the message fits our own agenda. But when it runs contrary to our agenda, it’s “the fault of the Zionists” or “Bibi is making a mistake”.
Maybe, just maybe, “Hashem is telling us” that the life of Jewish solider defending the Land, regardless of his level of religiosity is more important than 1,000 Arab murderers and even potential murderers.
To #13 : Thank you for the nice perspective about a Jewish soldier defending the Land versus our enemies.
One other thing comes to mind as I follow the developments here in EY on-line. We have so-called leaders today that will easily sign a קול קורא for some idiotic issue, or who will rally behind convicted thieves only because they’re “frum”. But to spearhead any efforts on behalf of חיל יהודי in captivity or to say תהילים for his welfare on a regular basis is too controversial for them to get involved with. You only hear from them afterwards.
I always think of such “leaders” during הלל when we say “הגדולים עם הקטנים”.
to no. 15, you said good in no. 13 but now (no.15), time to take a rest and go to sleep alittle.
Everyone davened for Shalit…
Guys take it easy. Do you think Bibi is stupid? do you think he’s putting on a blind eye and just releasing murderers?. They’ve got an intelligence agency like no others in the world. I bet you that every one of these 1,000 murders will be monitored 24/7 and if any of those prisoners will make even the slightest move they will be executed.
Palestine will not gain favor from heaven in the insistence that they are returned murderers and the outragrous terrorists. It is good that Gilat is returned. I am glad we made this deal. I recognize that we may have let the terrorist free for more terror tomorrow. This may be the fact, but the truth is that we have a Creator who redeems Israel. And if this is the price Israel must pay to free the captive righteous, may we be redeemed for our sacrifices and belief that Hashem is our protector.
If he b/c a Bal theshuvah what a kiddush Hashem that will be