Hamas hands over video in exchange for prisoners

By AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM – Hamas militants handed over a two-minute video showing a healthy-looking Israeli soldier held captive since 2006, and in exchange Israel freed 19 Palestinian women prisoners on Friday — the first tangible step toward defusing a key flashpoint in Israeli-Palestinian hostilities.

An Israeli official who saw the video of Sgt. Gilad Schalit said the 23-year-old looked good and spoke lucidly about something from his past. He gave no further details, and spoke on condition of anonymity because the footage had not been released to the public.

It was the first glimpse of Schalit since his capture nearly 3 1/2 years ago. Before Friday, the only signs of life had been three letters and an audio tape.

Local media reported that in the video Schalit held up an Arabic language newspaper dated Sept. 14, 2009 — Hamas' proof the footage was taken recently. It was not clear if Schalit was reading from a text or speaking off the cuff, though no notes could be seen in the video.

The Palestinian prisoners' triumphant return home to a flag waving and cheering crowd, together with the video's arrival in Israel, gave hope to each side that a wider, long-awaited prisoner swap is now in the offing.

Hamas is demanding freedom for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners as their price for Schalit, whose capture in a bloody cross-border raid has touched a raw nerve in a country where most families have loved ones in the military.

Friday's deal could also herald an end to a crippling, Israel-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. Israel has made it clear that it will not ease the embargo before the serviceman is freed.

About 200 people waving Palestinian flags greeted vans carrying 18 of the women into the West Bank. The prisoners, wearing the headscarves of devout Muslim women, blew kisses to the crowd through the vehicles' open windows.

Later, the prisoners were greeted by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in his walled compound, as elated related relatives threw fistfuls of candy in the air.

Zhour Hamdan, arrested in 2003, was reunited with her eight children and saw her first granddaughter, 1-year-old Selina, for the first time. Her daughter Nasreen, 26, said she hadn't been able to visit her mother for more than a year because of Israeli movement restrictions.

"It's indescribable," Nasreen said of the reunion. "We are preparing a tremendous celebration at home."

Another woman returned to her home in Gaza. Yet another will be released to Gaza on Sunday, bringing to 20 the total number of women freed as part of the exchange, Israel's prisons service said.

The women had been jailed for relatively minor offenses and were close to release. Only a few were members of militant groups, and most were assigned supporting roles, such as helping bombers reach their targets, said Bothaina Duqmaq, a prisoners' rights activist in the West Bank,

Israel's lead negotiator in prisoner swap talks viewed the video first in Tel Aviv to determine its authenticity. The video was then transferred to Jerusalem, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak viewed it.

A copy of the disc was also delivered by helicopter to the Schalit family in northern Israel. Channel 1 TV said Schalit appeared healthy and clean-shaven, and that his hair had been trimmed.

Reporters and cameramen thronged the Schalit home as an army general walked with a manila envelope carrying the video inside. Policemen stood guard outside the house, which was shown continuously on Israeli TV stations.

Schalit 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.

Israel and Hamas shun each other, and German and Egyptian mediators have been acting as go-betweens in swap talks.

Israel had said the women would not be freed unless the video disc met three criteria: It had to be provably recent, Schalit had to be talking clearly into the camera, and the footage had to be at least a minute long.

The footage will not be shown to the public if the family doesn't want it released, and even if they agree, it wasn't clear whether it would be aired on Friday, an Israeli official said.

Hamas has said it must receive permission from the German mediator before authorizing the release of copies of the videotape to the media.

Israel has said Friday's deal was suggested by mediators as a "confidence-building measure." But Israeli officials have predicted that negotiations for a final deal would be long and difficult.

The Palestinians want Israel to trade up to 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for Schalit, including many convicted of deadly attacks on Israelis. Talks have snagged over the specific prisoners the Palestinians want freed and where they are to go after their release.

Still, both Hamas and Israel appear eager to wrap up a deal.

Schalit's return would end a painful chapter in Israel, where military service is compulsory and his long captivity has touched a raw nerve.

Many Israelis have rallied behind the soldier and his family, holding protests calling for his release and decorating their cars with bumper stickers bearing his name. As speculation about a possible prisoner swap grows, however, arguments against his release have grown louder, because of the high price Israel would have to pay.

Hamas' profile, meanwhile, would be raised in Palestinian territories by the loosening of the blockade and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

Prisoners enjoy an eminent status in Palestinian society because so many families have members in Israeli jails. A large-scale release would be a coup for Hamas as it jockeys for power against the moderate government led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank.