Israel Begins Release of Palestinian Women Prisoners in Shalit Deal

The first of 20 Palestinian women to be released from Israeli jails in a deal to provide Israel with information about its captive soldier Gilad Shalit, has been freed. In exchange for the woman’s release, a one-minute video of Shalit will be given to Israel. It will be the first time since Shalit was captured in a cross-border raid in June 2006 that there will be any direct evidence of his condition. The deal reportedly began when Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the mentor of an Israeli political party, sent a book of Psalms and a prayer book to Egyptian President Mubarak, asking that it be given to Shalit. Negotiations over Shalit’s release continue, with Israel hesitant to release as many as 1,000 prisoners as Hamas is demanding.