Gilad Shalit prisoner swap begins

18 October 2011 Last updated at 02:17 ET

This is Gilad Shalit as he looked shortly before his capture in June 2006

Hamas has handed over Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit to Egyptian mediators after five years’ captivity, as part of a prisoner swap deal with Israel, Hamas officials have told the BBC.

More than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners are due to be freed. The first 477 are being released on Tuesday.

Sgt Shalit was seized in 2006 by Hamas militants who tunnelled into Israel.

On Monday the Israeli Supreme Court rejected a bid by families of victims of militant attacks to delay the swap.

The day’s events are unfolding in a carefully choreographed sequence.

Early on Tuesday Gilad Shalit, 25, was taken to the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, to be handed in the presence of Israeli representatives.

He is then to be transferred to the Kerem Shalom crossing between Egypt and Israel.

After he has made a phone call to his parents and undergone a brief medical examination, he will be flown by helicopter to the Tel Nof airbase in Israel.

While this is going on, the first of 477 Palestinian prisoners destined for Gaza or exile abroad are to cross into Egypt from Kerem Shalom, a 10-minute drive from Rafah.

Early on Tuesday, a large convoy of inmates left a prison in the south of Israel while a smaller group left another in the centre of the country – both under heavy security.

The remaining 550 are scheduled to be released next month.

“I understand the difficulty in accepting that the vile people who committed the heinous crimes against r loved ones will not pay the full price they deserve,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote in a letter, released by his office, to bereaved Israeli families.

Meanwhile in Gaza, Hamas prepared a hero’s welcome for 295 prisoners due to be sent to the territory.

The Hamas interior minister for Gaza has urged residents to “refrain from using weapons and ammunition to express their joy”.

The BBC’s Yolande Knell at Rafah crossing from Egypt to Gaza says relatives of those to be freed have been waiting there overnight.

One man said he was “very happy” his cousin would be let out after more than 30 years but “very angry” that he was being moved to Gaza which is under an Israeli blockade.

He said: “They will come from one prison to another prison.”

Some of the Palestinians released will be flown to host countries including Turkey, Syria or Qatar.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has prepared new passports for those being deported to third countries, which it has given to the Egyptian ambassador to the Palestinian territories.

Prisoners being released into the West Bank will be taken to the Bituniya checkpoint, where they will be handed over to the PA.

Sgt Shalit was a 19-year-old tank crewman when he was captured in June 2006. The campaign to free him made him a national symbol in Israel.

He will be undergoing further medical checks at Tel Nof, where he will meet members of his family, as well as Mr Netanyahu.

If he is fit, Sgt Shalit will then be flown with his family to northern Israel and escorted by a convoy to his home town of Mitzpe Hila, in the western Galilee.

Sgt Shalit’s family lived in a protest tent in Jerusalem for 16 months while they campaigned for his release.

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