Gilad Shalit

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Hamas Has Held Israeli for Almost a Year: Officials

An Arab-Israeli is also reportedly being held, though it's unclear by whom

(Newser) - Israel said today two of its citizens are being held in the Gaza Strip—and it believes Hamas has had its hands on one of them for almost a year, the AP reports. An Israeli defense unit says that "credible intelligence" shows Avraham Mangisto, said by Israeli media to...

Israel: We're Missing a Soldier in Gaza

Kerry in Cairo talks as Palestinian death toll nears 600

(Newser) - Does Hamas have another Israeli captive? After denying yesterday that an Israeli soldier had been captured, Israeli officials now admit that a soldier is missing but say he is presumed to have been killed when a missile hit an armored personnel carrier transporting seven soldiers in Gaza on Sunday, the...

Israel Frees Another 550 Palestinians

Release follows clash at internment compound

(Newser) - Israel has set free another 550 Palestinian prisoners, completing the deal that secured the release of captured soldier Gilad Shalit . Thousands gathered at the former home of Yasser Arafat to celebrate alongside Palestinian officials. Most prisoners were directed to the West Bank; some 41 were sent to Gaza, and a...

Saudi Royal Offers $900K for Capture of Israeli Soldier

Prince brings cleric's bounty to $1M

(Newser) - Israel's freeing of a thousand Palestinian prisoners in return for one captured soldier must have sounded like a pretty good deal to Prince Khaled bin Talal. The Saudi royal, brother of billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, has added $900,000 to a prominent Saudi cleric's offer of $100,...

Gilad Shalit Healing After Isolation: Dad

Noam Shalit 'understands price we are paying' for release

(Newser) - Israel soldier Gilad Shalit is home and “happy,” but he’s still recovering from five years’ imprisonment, his father says. “In isolation,” Gilad “had no connection with his people, with his own language,” Noam Shalit told members of the media, including the Jerusalem Post...

Gilad Shalit Freed as Hamas Prisoner Exchange Begins
 5 Years Later, Gilad Shalit Free 
UPDATED

5 Years Later, Gilad Shalit Free

477 Palestinian prisoners released as part of deal

(Newser) - After more than five years as a Hamas captive in Gaza, soldier Gilad Shalit is back in Israel, a move that triggered the release of 477 Palestinian prisoners, the first wave of a total of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners being freed in exchange for the 25-year-old soldier, the Washington Post...

Israel to Free Bombers, Killers in Soldier Swap

Jerusalem releases names of first prisoners to be freed

(Newser) - The founders of Hamas' militant wing. The organizer of a Jerusalem bombing that killed 15. A woman who lured a lovelorn Israeli teen to a Palestinian city to be murdered. All will be released in Israel's planned swap of Palestinian political prisoners for a single kidnapped Israeli solder, the...

Captive Israeli Soldier Expected Home Tuesday

Unless Iran sabotages Gilad Shalit deal, warns German mediator

(Newser) - Assuming no last-minute hiccups, Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit will be back home on Tuesday after five years in Hamas captivity, reports AFP . On that day, Israel will release 450 Palestinian prisoners—another 550 will be released later—in exchange for Shalit's freedom. An additional 27 female prisoners will also...

Israel Freeing 1K Palestinians to Bring Soldier Home

Government strikes deal with Hamas for Gilad Shalit

(Newser) - After more than five years as a captive of Palestinian militants, soldier Gilad Shalit will be home within days, the Israeli government says. Shalit, now 25, was 19 when he was captured during a cross-border raid in 2006, and his captivity has long been an emotional issue in Israel. To...

Israel, Hamas Strike Deal to Free Israeli Soldier

Gilad Shalit held more than 5 years

(Newser) - Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement that would see hundreds of Hamas prisoners released in exchange for an Israeli soldier's freedom. Benjamin Netanyahu went on national TV before a Cabinet vote to announce that Gilad Shalit, who was captured more than five years ago, would be free "...

Israel, Hamas Close to Schalit Prisoner Swap Deal

Hamas will have to deport some of 1,000 freed prisoners

(Newser) - A deal to swap 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for Sgt. Gilad Schalit, the 23-year-old Israeli who's been held by Hamas for 3 1/2 years, appears close after a whirlwind of negotiations between Hamas and the Israeli government. After a late-night session, Israel has reportedly replied to a Hamas offer conveyed...

Israel-Hamas Prisoner Swap May Be Imminent

But German FM tight-lipped on deal to free Gilad Shalit

(Newser) - German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle won’t say a word about the maybe-impending deal to free Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, afraid to jinx the proceedings. Westerwelle met with counterpart Avigdor Lieberman in Israel today, in part to discuss the prisoner swap, which German officials are brokering in Cairo. Reports are...

Hamas Releases Video of Captive Israeli Soldier

Sept. 14 footage of Shalit obtained in trade for Palestinian prisoners

(Newser) - Imprisoned Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit appears healthy and talkative in a video released to the Israeli government by his captors in exchange for 20 Palestinian prisoners. In the video, Shalit talks of wanting to return home after his 3-year detention and holds up a copy of a newspaper dated September...

Israel Will Free 20 Palestinian Prisoners for Video of Soldier

Hamas says footage proves Shalit is alive

(Newser) - Israel will release 20 Palestinian women from jail in exchange for a video from Hamas proving that a young soldier captured three years ago is alive. The swap is expected to take place Friday and will lead to further negotiations for the release of Gilad Shalit, now 23, who was...

Israel, Hamas Agree to Begin Ceasefire Thursday

But Jerusalem waiting to see if it's 'serious'

(Newser) - Israel has reached a tentative truce with Hamas, brokered by Egypt, the BBC and AP report. Starting Thursday, the two sides will begin a “mutual and simultaneous calm,” in which militants will theoretically stop their daily cross-border rocket bombardments, and Israel will in turn cease its military raids....

Israeli Hostage Alive: Hamas
 Israeli Hostage Alive: Hamas 

Israeli Hostage Alive: Hamas

Offer to avoid civilian targets

(Newser) - Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is alive, Hamas leader Khalid Meshaal tells Britain's Sky News. "Gilad is alive and we are treating him well but Israel is treating the Palestinian prisoners they hold very badly,"  he said in an interview in Damascus, offering the first word in almost...

Hamas Releases Audio of Israeli Soldier

A year after capture, Cpl. Gilad Shalit says his health is failing

(Newser) - In the first proof that he is alive a year after capture, Hamas militants today released an audio recording of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier seized in a cross-border raid near the Gaza strip. In the message posted on the group's web site, Shalit said a year in prison is...

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