The sad story of Gilad Shalit: coward or hero? Gilad Shalit: the naked truth.
In the early morning of June 25, 2006, in the area of Kibbutz Kerem Shalom, on the ever-turbulent border with the Gaza Strip, real chaos was happening. Since dawn, explosions and gunfire were heard along the border. Helicopters patrolled the air, and columns of armored vehicles rushed along the ground. By all indications, something out of the ordinary happened.
The Israeli military did not have a complete picture. From five in the morning, confused reports began to arrive about shelling from mortars and grenade launchers from the Gaza Strip, then about an attack from the ground on an observation tower and armored vehicles. Reports poured in from all sides. One of the observation towers spotted a group of militants moving towards residential areas in Palestinian territory; The crew of the Israeli tank reported that they saw another such fast-moving group and were ready to hit it. However, they were not given permission to open fire.
From the attack areas there were reports of "from bad to worse." One armored personnel carrier burned down, the retreating militants scattered mines, and there were already casualties from the explosion. But the worst was discovered near the silent Merkava tank.
The lifeless bodies of two crew members lay near the tank, another tanker with severe wounds was inside. The fourth was nowhere to be seen - neither alive nor dead. Finally, a bloody Israeli bulletproof vest was found near the undermined fence leading into Palestinian territory. Most likely, the fourth tanker was captured.
It was even worse than if he had simply died.
Raid
The fact that the Palestinians organized and carried out everything at the highest level will then be recognized even by the Israeli military.
Eight Palestinian militants, identifying themselves (probably for the purpose of camouflage) with various groups in the Gaza Strip, entered Israeli territory through a tunnel dug specially for this purpose. Over the years, Palestinians in Gaza have mastered the art of tunnel construction.
Through numerous underground galleries, Palestinians transferred contraband from Egypt and militants to Israel.
The tunnel, built specifically for this raid, began about half a kilometer from the border on the Palestinian side and ended three hundred meters from the border in Israel. The carefully camouflaged exit from the tunnel was located behind the Israeli troops, facing Gaza. At 5:12 am on June 25, 2006, the militants emerged from this tunnel without being noticed by anyone.
In order to divert attention from them, from the Sector a little further along the border at that time, shelling of Israeli positions with mortars and rocket systems began. It also helped that the tunnel exit was cleverly placed behind a line of trees, hiding it from observers.
Having freely reached the surface, the militants divided into three subgroups and went to pre-planned targets.
The first three attacked an empty armored personnel carrier, which, according to the assurances of the Israeli military, was left as a bait. Having destroyed it and finding no one around, the Palestinians returned to their side, scattering several explosive devices around.
A pair of militants attacked a concrete watchtower. First they fired at it with grenade launchers and small arms, and then blew up the door leading upstairs. There is a completely plausible version that the soldiers in the tower were simply sleeping, and only the explosion of a grenade woke them up.
One of the militants got inside, but was killed on the stairs by IDF (Israel Defense Forces) soldiers. The second gunman tried to run away, but he was also shot.
The last three moved towards the Merkava III tank, standing in its caponier...
Tank
Israeli intelligence services knew that a raid on the secret tunnel would take place in the very near future. On June 24, two arrested Palestinians told them about this, but other than requests to increase vigilance, no additional measures were taken.
The sector commander, Colonel Avi Peled, was very worried that he did not have enough people to cover the border and the armored vehicles stationed along it. At night, sapper units were on duty along the border, but at dawn they left, leaving the tankers alone.
According to the rules, the crew was supposed to take up their posts at dawn, but in reality only the tank commander, Lieutenant Hanan Barak, who was sitting in the turret after the obligatory morning communication session with his superiors, was awake. A native of Magadan, Sergeant Pavel Slutsker, the crew’s signalman, slept in the driver’s place. The mechanic himself, Corporal Roi Amitai, slept in Slutsker’s place. The gunner, Corporal Gilad Shalit, took a nap in his place near the gun.
The Merkava tank from which Shalit was kidnapped
Suddenly the tank was rocked by an explosion. The Palestinians fired a grenade launcher into the rear landing hatch of the Merkava. The cumulative jet burned through the armor and burst into the tank. The Merkava, a large, reliable and very durable vehicle, did not suffer much damage from one hit, even if it was in a vulnerable spot. But due to the combination of gases from the explosion, fire protection system and when the ventilation was turned off, heavy smoke began to form in the tank.
Immediately after the hit, Lieutenant Hanan and Sergeant Slutsker left the vehicle through the turret hatch and advised the others to do the same.
Both tankers did not even take their personal weapons, which remained lying on the floor of the combat vehicle.
Immediately after leaving the car, they were shot by Palestinians. The wounded driver and gunner remained inside. According to one version, Corporal Shalit was unharmed at that moment, according to another, his arm was broken and there was a severe concussion. Two Palestinians approached the tank and threw several hand grenades into the vehicle through the open hatch. Thanks to the body armor, the anti-fragmentation apron hanging on the seat and great luck, Shalit received only a few small fragments, while Corporal Amitai lost consciousness from his wounds.
Gilad, in a state of shock, also decided to leave the combat vehicle, in which it was no longer possible to breathe. He could have climbed out through the rear hatch, using the smoke as cover, and hidden under the tank, but he preferred the commander's hatch in the turret. As soon as he leaned out, he saw one of the Palestinians climbing onto the tank. All that the confused and stunned Corporal Shalit could do in this situation was to raise his hands and shout: “Don’t shoot!”
The militants ordered him to get out and move with them, which Shalit did.
The Palestinians have achieved a rare feat. The previous IDF soldier fell into their hands back in 1994 - and then he soon died during the operation to free him, undertaken by Israeli special forces. Now they had to leave, especially since it was getting hot around them.
While two militants were busy with the Merkava, their comrade, who remained guarding the road, fired at a passing jeep. The captain riding in the jeep returned fire, so quick Israeli reinforcements were to be expected.
The Palestinians, together with Shalit, hastily retreated to their territory. On the way, they could have been slammed by another tank in an open field, but its crew never received permission to open fire, since no one was sure of Shalit’s fate.
Captive
On the Palestinian side, the militants, together with Shalit, quickly got into a tractor trailer and drove deep into the development, moved into a car, then into another. Shalit was given civilian clothes, and long months and years of captivity began for him. With the exception of the first few days, he was treated well. The Palestinians needed it as an important bargaining chip in any negotiations with Israel.
In response to his capture, Israel launched a large-scale military operation called Summer Rains in the Gaza Strip, but failed to free Shalit. The Palestinians immediately offered to exchange him for their many prisoners in Israeli prisons, but negotiations involving a dozen countries and an entire envoy from the Pope did not lead to anything for a long time.
Meanwhile, Shalit was being moved from one hideout to another in Gaza. These were mostly ordinary Palestinian houses, where the attitude towards him ranged from neutral to friendly. He was allowed to listen to the radio and watch TV. He even managed to watch the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
He was reported to his homeland using videos and audio recordings taken by the invaders, as well as a few letters.
Gilad Shalit returned home only at the end of 2011, when he was exchanged for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners, including many well-known and very dangerous militants and warlords.
A freed Palestinian prisoner is greeted in the Gaza Strip (photo: Mohammed Salem)
Hero?
From the moment Gilad Shalit was captured, people began to talk about him only in laudatory terms - as a new hero of Israel. Many people were offended by this - they say, what has he achieved? I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and did nothing but give up.
There were even those who used the glorious argument “why didn’t you burn in the tank?” and accused Shalit of shameful cowardice in the face of the enemy.
Cowardice, because of which Israel had to make unprecedented concessions.
But most still admired the way Israel fights for each of its soldiers, even if it means stepping through politics for them.
There are no simple culprits or simple answers in the Gilad Shalit story, but there are many “what ifs.” What if the commander had not left the tank? If Shalit had started to move his tank turret and shoot - even if it was at nothing? If, upon seeing the Palestinians, he would have slammed the hatch or started shooting from the commander's machine gun? What if I climbed out through the bottom hatch and hid?
There are no answers to these questions, and there cannot be. There are no answers to what each of us would have done in Gilad Shalit’s place.
Arrival of Gilad Shalit in Israel
Shalit himself today, fortunately, lives the life of an ordinary citizen of Israel - one who has fully repaid his debt to his country.
In Mitzpe Hila, the home village of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who spent 5 years and 4 months in the dungeons of Hamas.
(Total 10 photos)
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1. Gilad Shalit - an Israeli Defense Forces soldier kidnapped on June 25, 2006 by the terrorist organizations Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades (the military wing of Hamas), the Popular Resistance Committees (which includes members of Fatah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas ) and the Army of Islam, and held as a hostage. At the time of the abduction, he held the rank of corporal (Rabat).
2. On the morning of October 18, 2011, Gilad was released by the Palestinian Hamas movement and handed over to his compatriots, after five years and four months of imprisonment.
3. Gilad Shalit a few minutes before his release.
4. Hamas representatives lead Shalit during the prisoner exchange procedure on the Israeli-Egyptian border in Rafah.
5. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greets soldier Gilad Shalit upon his return to Israeli soil.
6. From left to right: Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, released Gilad Shalit, Chief of Staff Benny Gantz and an unidentified senior Israeli army officer at Tel Nof airbase.
7. On October 1, an agreement was reached between the Israeli government and the leadership of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas. According to it, 1,027 Palestinians, including 27 women, will be released in exchange for Shalit. Photo: Members of the armed wing of Hamas greet released Palestinian prisoners at the Egyptian border in Rafah.
8. One of the 27 female Palestinian prisoners released by Israel greets the crowd that has gathered at the Qalandiya checkpoint, between Jerusalem and Ramallah. Prisoners will be released in two stages. The first group of 477 prisoners (315 of them serving life sentences) left prison shortly after Shalit was handed over to the Israelis, the rest will be released within two months.
9. One of the Palestinian prisoners released in exchange for Gilad Shalit greets his compatriots during the celebrations that took place at the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority in Ramala, on West Bank Jordan River.
10. This day was preceded by a lot of excitement and a lot of discussions both in Israel and abroad. Someone said that to vote for such an exchange is to have no mind, to vote against such an exchange is to have no heart. As you can see, the voice of the heart won in this case. Photo: Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak shakes hands with Gilad Shalit.
Israeli army first sergeant who spent more than five years in captivity of Palestinian militants
The first sergeant of the Israeli army was taken hostage by Palestinian militants in June 2006, after which the Israel Defense Forces launched a large-scale military operation to free him. Released in October 2011 as a result of an agreement with Hamas.
Gilad Shalit was born on August 28, 1986 in the town of Mitzpe Hila near the Israeli-Lebanese border. The son of a native of France, Shalit has dual Israeli-French citizenship. After graduating from school, he was called up to serve in the tank forces.
On June 25, 2006, a group of Palestinian militants infiltrated an Israeli checkpoint located in the Keren Shalom area on the border of the Gaza Strip. During the night battle with militants, two Israeli soldiers were killed and four were injured. Corporal Shalit was taken hostage by the Palestinians. Responsibility for the attack was claimed by Hamas's military wing, the Martyr Izzeddin al-Qassam Brigades, the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) and the Islamic Army. The kidnappers demanded that the Israeli authorities release Palestinian prisoners from prison in exchange for Shalit's life.
In response to the demands of the militants, the Israeli authorities, abandoning the “bargaining”, launched the military operation “Summer Rain” in the Gaza Strip on the night of June 28. On July 3, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ordered an intensified search for the corporal kidnapped by Palestinians.
According to press reports, shortly after Shalit's capture, negotiations for his release began: Egypt acted as a mediator. For a long time, Israel was reluctant to link Shalit's release to the release of Palestinian prisoners, but by the end of October there was a shift in this regard. On October 28, the KNU announced the readiness of the groups that captured Shalit to accept the conditions proposed by Egypt. It was claimed that the agreement would include the release of Palestinian prisoners. According to the KNU representative, the release of the Israeli corporal could happen in the coming days. Details of the negotiations and a possible agreement were not disclosed to either party.
On November 1, a message appeared in the Israeli press that an agreement had been reached: Israel was allegedly ready to release more than a thousand prisoners after Shalit’s return. However, the next day, new complications arose: a Hamas representative said that the corporal's return should be preceded by the release of 300-400 prisoners, and only then he would be exchanged for another thousand Palestinians.
On July 4, 2007, the leader of the Islamic Army, Abu Mutfana, told reporters that his group had handed Shalit over to Hamas. He called on the corporal's relatives to put pressure on the Israeli government and seek the release of Muslim prisoners from Israeli prisons. Otherwise, according to Mutfana, the Islamic Army intended to "take action."
On October 11, 2011, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Shalit would return home in a few days under an agreement signed by the Israeli side and Hamas. On October 18 of the same year, Shalit was handed over to the Israeli side. Under the terms of the exchange, Israel released and removed 477 Palestinian prisoners from its territory on the same day, and another 550 people were released on December 18. The exchange took place through the mediation of Turkey, Egypt and some other countries.
Shalit, while in captivity, was promoted several times. On the eve of his release, he became a first sergeant (sergeant major) in the Israeli army.
In March 2012, the Israeli Ministry of Defense recognized Shalit, who was wounded during capture in 2006, as an IDF disabled person. In April of the same year, Shalit was demobilized.
Used materials
Gilad Shalit was transferred to the reserve with the rank of sergeant major. - ISRAland, 18.04.2012
Gilad Shalit is recognized as disabled by the IDF. - ZMAN.com, 18.03.2012
Guy Azriel, Enas Muthaffar. Palestinians rejoice as Israel releases another 550 prisoners. - CNN, 18.12.2011
David Sheen. Live blog: The Gilad Shalit prisoner swap as it happens. - Haaretz, 18.10.2011
Yaakov Katz, Herb Keinon. IDF confirms: Gilad Schalit is now on Israeli soil. - Jerusalem post, 18.10.2011
Chris McGreal. Gilad Shalit deal opposed by families of Palestinian prisoners" victims. - The Guardian, 17.10.2011
Shalit promoted to rank of IDF sergeant-major on eve of release. - Haaretz, 17.10.2011
From the very beginning, Shalit’s military career did not go very well, notes The Jerusalem Post. At the conscription stage, the medical commission noted the recruit’s poor health. Despite this, the young man asked to join the advanced units and was accepted into service in a tank brigade.
He was not particularly successful in his service. His comrades in arms considered him somewhat retarded and lacking initiative, the newspaper notes. In June 2006, Corporal Gilad Shalit was on the Israel-Egypt border as part of an IDF tank crew. He attended all the required briefings, but nodded off.
“I didn’t listen to orders. The crew commander really listened to everything. I trusted him completely,” he admitted to army psychologists, whose reports were quoted by The Jerusalem Post.
At the end of June 2006, the Shin Bet security service warned tank crews about the possibility of a militant attack from the Gaza Strip. Shalid did not listen to these warnings. On the night of June 25-26, he, along with the crew commander, Lieutenant Hanan Barak, driver Pavel Slutsker and gunner Roy Amitai, were at the combat post.
Militants of the Izeddin al-Qassam Brigades movement approached the tank through a tunnel and fired at it with a grenade launcher. The direct hit woke up the crew. “Get out of the tank,” the wounded Lieutenant Barak shouted to his subordinate and climbed out through the hatch closest to him. Following him, Slutsker left the damaged car. Moments later, they both fell to Palestinian gunfire.
“I disobeyed the order. It was safer inside the tank than outside,” Gilad Shalit explained his actions.
Only Shalit and the shell-shocked Roy Amitai remained in the tank, who showed no signs of life. According to experts, despite the hit, the combat vehicle was ready for battle. However, a psychological factor intervened.
When Palestinian militants approached the tank and demanded that Shalit surrender, he did nothing. At this moment, he could shoot them with a machine gun, the breech of which was 10 centimeters from his hand. “I was confused,” the soldier admitted in a conversation with army psychologists. When the militants ordered him to leave the tank, he did so - and ended up captured by the Palestinians.
The days of captivity became a difficult test for Shalit. He was chained to pipes and radiators and constantly transported from place to place. The hostage's food was monotonous. The militants fed Shalit mainly what they ate themselves, namely hummus. Sometimes the militants let the prisoner out to breathe fresh air. In a conversation with a psychologist, he recalled that he once had dinner on the roof of one of the houses in Khan Yunis with the family of his jailer and looked at the expanse of the Mediterranean Sea. “Under other circumstances, I might have thought I was on vacation,” Shalit said.
Soldier Gilad Shalit was captured by Palestinian militants in 2006. His release was the subject of much negotiation between Israel and members of the Hamas movement. The Palestinians released Shalit on October 18, 2011 in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners, more than 400 of whom were convicted by Israeli courts. After his release, the Israeli authorities declared Shalit a hero and awarded him the rank of sergeant major.
According to military psychologists, at the time of his capture, Gilad Shalit was an emotional and psychologically fragile introvert. Experts say he should not have been sent to the front line. When the tank was knocked out, it lost the ability to adequately resist. According to psychologists, such a soldier (despite all his suffering in captivity) cannot be called a “hero” of Israel.
"Themes"
"News"
Palestinian released under Shalit deal arrested again
TEL AVIV/GAZA, January 31 – RIA Novosti. Israeli security forces on Tuesday in the village of Dura, west of Hebron, arrested a former Palestinian prisoner, Ayman Ismail Sharvana, who was released in October 2011 as part of an exchange agreement for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, the Israel Defense Forces press service reported.
link: http://www.ria.ru/world/ 20120131/553193580.html
The father of Shalit, released from captivity, wants to run for parliament
TEL AVIV, January 9 – RIA Novosti. The father of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, released from Hamas captivity, announced on Monday his decision to nominate himself as a candidate on the Labor party list for the upcoming parliamentary elections, Kol Israel radio station reports.
link: http://www.ria.ru/world/ 20120109/535777569.html
Shalit exchange will raise the prestige of Hamas, says Likud chairman
MOSCOW, October 19 – RIA Novosti. The chairman of the Likud party faction in the Knesset, Ze'ev Elkin, believes that the return of Corporal Shalit home in exchange for the release of more than a thousand Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons will raise the prestige of Hamas and weaken the moderate political forces of Palestine.
link: http://www.ria.ru/world/ 20111019/463955503.html
Gilad Shalit handed over to Israeli authorities
Israeli army sergeant Gilad Shalit, captured by Hamas militants over five years ago, has been handed over to Israeli authorities.
link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/russian/international/2011/10/111017_shalit_hamas_swap.shtml
Corporal Gilad Shalit handed over to Israel
Israeli corporal Gilad Shalit, released on the morning of October 18 by the Palestinian Hamas movement after five years in prison, was handed over to his compatriots, Reuters reports.
link: http://lenta.ru/news/2011/10/18/change/
How will the exchange of Gilad Shalit for prisoners take place?
On the afternoon of October 17, Palestinian Hamas buses arrived in Israel, on which the released terrorists will be transported to Gaza and Egypt on October 18. The arrival of the pre-check buses was coordinated between the IDF coordinator for the controlled areas, Major General Eitan Dangut, and the head of the Israeli Red Cross, Jean Pierre Scherer.
link: http://www.zman.com/news/2011/10/17/112106.html
Gilad Shalit gave his first interview
Egyptian television broadcast an interview with Gilad Shalit, taken immediately after his release from Hamas captivity. The presenter asked him questions in English, the questions were translated into Hebrew by an Egyptian. Gilad Shalit answered in Hebrew.
link: http://cursorinfo.co.il/news/novosti/2011/10/18/interv/
Corporal Gilad Shalit has indeed been handed over to Israel: he gave his first interview
Soldier Gilad Shalit, captured in 2006 by militants of the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas, was handed over to Israeli representatives on Tuesday, the country's authorities and the press service of the Israel Defense Forces confirmed. The corporal, who was held captive in the Gaza Strip for 1,940 days, was first shown on Egyptian television (previously videoed in 2009) during the exchange procedure, after which he gave his first interview.
link: http://www.newsru.com/world/18oct2011/shalit_3.html
Gilad Shalit returned home
The Islamist Palestinian movement Hamas handed over Israeli corporal Gilad Shalit, who had been in captivity since 2006, to Egypt for subsequent transfer to Israel.
link: http://www.mk.ru/politics/article/2011/10/18/633608-gilad-shalit-vernulsya-domoy. html
Gilad Shalit heads to Tel Nof base
Around 11 a.m., Gilad Shalit was handed over by Egyptian and Hamas representatives to representatives of the IDF command. Together with Israeli army officers, he went from the Rafah border crossing to the Kerem Shalom checkpoint.
link: http://newsru.co.il/israel/18oct2011/gilad_114.html
link:
link: http://www.ria.ru/world/ 20111018/463186178.html
A group of Palestinians liberated by Israel will arrive in Turkey - Foreign Ministry
ANKARA, October 18 – RIA Novosti. Turkey will host ten Palestinians released by Israel on Tuesday, the country's Foreign Ministry told reporters.
link: http://www.ria.ru/world/ 20111018/463184432.html
Israel prepares to welcome soldier Gilad Shalit
TEL AVIV, October 18 – RIA Novosti. Israel's top political and military leaders are with the family of Gilad Shalit at an air base near Tel Aviv, where a ceremony will be held on Tuesday to welcome the soldier returning home after five years of Palestinian captivity.
link: http://www.ria.ru/world/ 20111018/463166032.html
Israel handed over all Palestinian prisoners to the Red Cross
TEL AVIV, October 18 – RIA Novosti. Israel has fulfilled the first part of the prisoner exchange agreement with the Palestinian Hamas movement, handing over 477 prisoners to representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Sivan Weizman, a spokesman for the Israeli Prisons Administration, told RIA Novosti.
link: http://www.ria.ru/world/ 20111018/463143748.html
The Israeli army has not yet confirmed the transfer of Gilad Shalit
TEL AVIV, October 18 – RIA Novosti. The command of the Israeli armed forces has not yet officially confirmed the information about the transfer of soldier Gilad Shalit, who spent more than five years in captivity by the Palestinians, to representatives of the Jewish state.
link: http://www.ria.ru/world/ 20111018/463122817.html
Hamas will show video of Gilad Shalit's broadcast to Egypt
GAZA, October 18 - RIA Novosti, Nazar Alyan. The Izeddin al-Qassam Brigades, the militant wing of the Islamist movement Hamas, will show a video of the transfer of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit to the Egyptian side in the coming hours, Hamas spokesman Fauzi Barhoum told RIA Novosti on Tuesday.
link: http://www.ria.ru/world/ 20111018/463125279.html
link: http://www.ria.ru/world/ 20111018/463092488.html
Shalit is being taken to a border checkpoint to be exchanged for Palestinians.
CAIRO, October 18 - RIA Novosti, Margarita Kislova. Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was held captive by the Islamic Palestinian movement Hamas for more than five years and was handed over to the Egyptian side on Tuesday morning, is being taken to the Kerem Shalom checkpoint on the Egyptian-Israeli border to be handed over to Israeli military and medical personnel, Al-Satellite TV channel reported. Arabia."
link: http://www.ria.ru/world/ 20111018/463066188.html
Shalit was returned to Israel after five years of captivity for a thousand Palestinians
MOSCOW, October 18 – RIA Novosti. Soldier Gilad Shalit, who had been in Palestinian captivity since 2006, was handed over to the Israeli side on Tuesday.
link: http://www.ria.ru/world/ 20111018/463332461.html
Merkel welcomes release of Israeli soldier Shalit
BERLIN, October 18 – RIA Novosti, Tatyana Firsova. German Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomes the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit from Palestinian captivity, German government spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters on Tuesday.
link: http://www.ria.ru/world/ 20111018/463331436.html
Abbas met the released prisoners with Hamas leaders
GAZA, October 18 - RIA Novosti, Nazar Alyan. The head of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, and the leader of the Islamist Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday met Palestinians released from Israeli prisons in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, a RIA Novosti correspondent reports. According to the terms of the deal, 477 out of 1,027 prisoners were released in the first stage.
link: http://www.ria.ru/world/ 20111018/463347133.html
The first Palestinians liberated in Israel arrived in the Gaza Strip
GAZA, October 18 - RIA Novosti, Nazar Alyan. The first Palestinians released from prisons in Israel in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit arrived through the Rafah checkpoint in the Gaza Strip, local TV channels report.
link: http://www.ria.ru/world/ 20111018/463305473.html
Shalit hopes his release will help peace in the Middle East
CAIRO, Oct 18 – RIA Novosti, Nadim Zouaoui. Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, released from captivity, hopes that a deal to exchange him for Palestinian prisoners will help achieve peace in the Middle East.
link: http://www.ria.ru/world/ 20111018/463265755.html
The exchange of prisoners between Hamas and Israel will take place at 8.00 Moscow time on Tuesday.
GAZA, October 17 - RIA Novosti, Nazar Alyan. The deal to exchange Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, captured in the Gaza Strip, for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons will take place at 6.00 on Tuesday (8.00 Moscow time) near the Rafah checkpoint on the border with Egypt, Palestinian media reported.
link: http://www.ria.ru/world/ 20111017/462639749.html
Hamas delegation arrives in Cairo to participate in prisoner exchange deal
CAIRO, October 17 - RIA Novosti, Nadim Zouaoui. A delegation from the Palestinian Hamas movement arrived in Cairo on Monday evening to participate in a deal to exchange Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, Egypt's MENA news agency reported.
link: http://www.ria.ru/world/ 20111017/462788827.html
Israel's Supreme Court rejects appeals against Shalit exchange
MOSCOW, October 18 – RIA Novosti. Israel's Supreme Court has rejected appeals against the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been held captive for more than five years, Agence France-Presse reported on Tuesday.
link: http://www.ria.ru/world/ 20111018/462877930.html
Security measures tightened in Israel ahead of prisoner exchange
TEL AVIV, October 17 – RIA Novosti. The Israeli army command on Monday, on the eve of the exchange of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit for Palestinian prisoners, declared the area of the Ktziot prison, where convicted Palestinians are being held, a “closed military zone,” the army press service reports.
link: http://www.ria.ru/world/ 20111017/462517475.html
The exchange is due to take place tomorrow morning.
The Israeli authorities and intelligence services are completing the final preparations for the operation to rescue Corporal Gilad Shalit from many years of captivity. On Tuesday morning he is due to be exchanged for a thousand Palestinian prisoners currently in Israeli prisons.
link: http://www.ntv.ru/novosti/242321/
Gilad Shalit could be released early Tuesday morning
Israeli corporal Gilad Shalit could be exchanged for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners as early as Tuesday morning. The operation is expected to take place at 06.00 am local time (08.00 Moscow time) in the area of the Arfah checkpoint near the border with Egypt, Israeli media report.
link: http://www.izvestia.ru/news/ 504154
Corporal Gilad Shalit is finally free
According to some reports, he has already been taken to the territory of an Israeli military camp, exchanged for hundreds of Palestinian militants. And all this with unprecedented security measures.
The last minutes before the start of the operation, buses with prisoners on which Shalit was being exchanged lined up at the checkpoint. A Red Cross representative checks the lists. 477 people, including 27 women - the first batch of exchange. They are taken by prison buses to the exchange points - Rafah, Kerem Shalom and Bitunia checkpoints. Tense anticipation - the message that Shalit had been handed over to Egyptian intermediaries - a signal for the movement of buses with prisoners. Absolute secrecy - all that is known is that Shalit is being transferred somewhere south of Israel.
link: http://www.1tv.ru/news/world/ 188535
Gilad Shalit undergoes medical examination
He is very weak, but completely mentally healthy, doctors say. In the first minutes, everyone answered that he was walking with little effort, apparently due to the fact that he practically did not leave the room where he was kept.
link: http://www.mignews.com/news/ society/world/181011_113320_ 45963.html
Hamas extradited Israeli corporal Gilad Shalit
The exchange, if not of the century, then certainly of the last ten years, seems to be taking place after all. Just a few days ago there were doubts about the date, but the day before, Israeli authorities and representatives of the Palestinian Hamas movement, which has held Gilad Shalit for the past five years, agreed on Tuesday as the day of the exchange. In exchange for Corporal Gilad Shalit, Hamas will receive 1,027 Palestinians who were in Israeli prisons. The first group of prisoners should be released today - that's 450 people, the rest - in two months. As Interfax reports, Israeli authorities have declared the areas through which Palestinian prisoners will be transported “closed military zones.” These zones, which included the Ktziot prison in southern Israel, as well as all areas bordering the Gaza Strip, will be cordoned off by the military today.
link: http://www.livejournal.ru/ themes/id/37866
Gilad Shalit returned home
One of the stages of the release of Israeli corporal Gilad Shalit has ended. It became known that Shalit, who was in Palestinian captivity for more than five years, is already in Israeli territory. Andrei Popov, correspondent for Vesti FM radio in the Middle East, spoke in more detail about the operation. link: http://radiovesti.ru/articles/ 2011-10-18/fm/15080
Gilad Shalit was taken to a military camp in Israel
CAIRO, October 18 - RIA Novosti, Margarita Kislova. Israeli corporal Gilad Shalit was taken to the territory of an Israeli military camp in the border area with Egypt, the Al-Arabiya satellite TV channel reported on Tuesday.
Representatives of the Palestinian Hamas movement on Tuesday morning handed over Shalit, who had spent more than five years in captivity, to the Egyptian side. He was then taken to the Kerem Shalom checkpoint on the Egyptian-Israeli border to be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.
link: http://ria.ru/world/20111018/ 463092488.html
Hamas: Gilad Shalit is already in Egypt. Terrorists began to be transported there
It has just been reported that Gilad Shalit has been transferred from the Gaza Strip to Egyptian territory.
Israeli online media publish this message with reference to the official statement of Hamas. According to this statement, the border crossing was carried out at 7.20. Some sources in the Gaza Strip are still trying to refute this information, but Egyptian television confirms it.
link: http://www.zman.com/news/2011/10/18/112149.html
Exchange of Gilad Shalit
The Palestinian Hamas movement handed over Israeli army soldier Gilad Shalit to Egyptian intermediaries, in exchange for whose release the Israelis agreed to release about a thousand Palestinian prisoners from prison.
link: http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/ ws/ru/thread.jspa?forumID= 14681
Gilad Shalit as a symbol of solidarity in Israeli society
The release of Gilad Shalit became a national cause in Israel, and the shy sergeant himself, during his five years of captivity, became a symbol of the solidarity of Israeli society despite differences.
link: http://ru.euronews.net/2011/10/18/the-transformation-of-gilad-shalit/
Hamas releases Gilad Shalit
The Islamist Palestinian movement Hamas on Tuesday handed over Israeli corporal Gilad Shalit, who had been in captivity since 2006, to Egypt for onward transfer to Israel.
link: http://news.nur.kz/198470.html
Israel and Palestine announce date for extradition of captive Gilad Shalit
MOSCOW, October 17 – RIA Novosti. The Israeli authorities and representatives of the Palestinian Hamas movement during negotiations set October 18 as the day for the “exchange” of the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit for Palestinian prisoners, Reuters reported on Monday.
link: http://www.ria.ru/world/ 20111017/461854773.html
PNA disappointed by Quartet's reaction to Israeli plans for Jerusalem
GAZA, October 16 - RIA Novosti, Nazar Alyan. Palestinian leaders on Sunday expressed disappointment at the Quartet's stance on Israel's new plan to build 1,700 houses in territory occupied during the 1967 Six-Day War.
link: http://www.ria.ru/world/ 20111016/461070224.html
EU condemns Israeli settlement activity
Israel and Hamas hold indirect meeting on prisoner exchange in Cairo
GAZA, Oct 14 - RIA Novosti, Nazar Alyan. A deal to release Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons will begin on Tuesday, Abu Mujahed, an official spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees group that participated with Hamas in Shalit's kidnapping, told RIA Novosti on Friday.
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Kidnappings of Israeli soldiers will continue, Palestinian militants say
GAZA, Oct 14 - RIA Novosti, Nazar Alyan. Palestinian resistance groups have paved the way for the release of all Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons by kidnapping Israeli soldiers and exchanging them for their comrades, and have no intention of abandoning this strategy. This was stated to RIA Novosti on Friday by Abu Mujahed, an official representative of the Popular Resistance Committees group, which, together with Hamas, participated in the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
link: http://www.ria.ru/world/ 20111014/459395126.html
Prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel set for Tuesday
GAZA, Oct 14 - RIA Novosti, Nazar Alyan. The deal to release Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons will begin on Tuesday, RIA Novosti Abu Mujahed reported on Friday.
link: http://www.ria.ru/world/ 20111014/459329848.html
Shalit's captors will show a documentary about his captivity
GAZA, Oct 14 - RIA Novosti, Nazar Alyan. The Palestinian factions that kidnapped and held Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit captive for more than five years have filmed and will soon air a documentary about him, the London-based Arabic-language publication al-Hayat reported on Friday.
link: http://www.ria.ru/world/ 20111014/458668660.html
Gilad Shalit handed over to Israeli military
Corporal Gilad Shalit, who spent five years and four months in captivity of Hamas, arrived in Egypt, writes haaretz.com He was met by an Israeli representative.
The former captive has undergone a medical examination and is heading to the Tel Nof Israeli air base, where his parents and family members are waiting for him. He had already managed to talk to them on the phone.
link: http://www.metronews.ru/novosti/gilad-shalit-peredan-izrail-skim-voennym/Tpokjr! IdfwUk4Z9k2/
Gilad Shalit was taken to a military camp in Israel
Photo gallery: The story of one corporal. Israel exchanged Gilad Shalit for Palestinian prisoners
On October 18, Israeli army corporal Gilad Shalit, after five years of being held captive by Palestinian militants, radical movement Hamas has returned to its homeland.
Its capture in 2006 sparked a military operation by the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip, which killed about 500 people. However, it was not possible to release Shalit, after which long and fruitless negotiations began. The parties managed to reach an agreement only on October 11 this year: under its terms, in exchange for Shalit, the Israeli authorities pledged to release 1,027 Palestinians serving sentences in Israeli prisons.
link: http://korrespondent.net/world/1273456-fotogalereya
Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is due to be handed over to Israeli authorities today
The exchange, if not of the century, then certainly of the last ten years, seems to be taking place after all. Just a few days ago there were doubts about the date, but the day before, Israeli authorities and representatives of the Palestinian Hamas movement, which has held Gilad Shalit for the past five years, agreed on Tuesday as the day of the exchange. Reuters reported this with reference to one of the participants in the negotiations. Let me remind you that in exchange for Corporal Gilad Shalit, Hamas will receive 1,027 Palestinians who were in Israeli prisons. The first group of prisoners should be released at the beginning of this week - that's 450 people, the rest - in two months. As Interfax reports, Israeli authorities have declared the areas through which Palestinian prisoners will be transported “closed military zones.” These zones, which included the Ktziot prison in southern Israel, as well as all areas bordering the Gaza Strip, will be cordoned off by the military today.
link: http://www.echo.msk.ru/news/821635-echo.html
Soon Gilad Shalit will be home
Corporal Gilad Shalit, who was captured by Hamas militants in June 2006, should soon return to this house in the village of Mitzpe Hila in northern Israel. In exchange for his freedom, Israel will grant amnesty to 1,027 Palestinian prisoners, many of whom were sentenced to life in prison.
link: http://ru.euronews.net/2011/10/17/preparations-ready-for-gilad-shalit-s-homecoming/
Gilad Shalit's house cordoned off by police
Dozens of police officers cordoned off the Shalit family's house in the village of Mitzpe Hila to allow the relatives of the kidnapped soldier to prepare for his return without suffering from unnecessary attention from the press and fellow citizens. According to Police Major Eitan Raza, the police are ensuring the return of Gilad Shalit home together with the IDF and MAGAV.
link: http://cursorinfo.co.il/news/novosti/2011/10/17/police/
Gilad Shalit handed over to representatives of the Israeli authorities
TEL AVIV, October 18 – RIA Novosti. Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, captured more than five years ago by Palestinian militants, has been handed over to Israeli officials, the Israel Defense Forces said.
“The handover of a captive Israeli soldier by Egyptian authorities to representatives of the Israel Defense Forces is currently taking place,” the Israeli army said in an official statement.
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