Mid-East joy at prisoner exchange

18 October 2011 Last updated at 18:32 ET

Jubilant crowds have gathered in Israel and the Palestinian territories to celebrate a historic prisoner swap.

Israel released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, allowing most to go back to Gaza and the West Bank, in exchange for the return of soldier Gilad Shalit.

Palestinian militants had held Sgt Shalit captive for five years after snatching him in a cross-border raid.

He received a hero’s welcome in his hometown, to which he flew after meeting PM Benjamin Netanyahu.

Both Mr Netanyahu and leaders of the Islamist movement Hamas, who closed the deal, hailed it as a vindication for their policies.

But correspondents say the swap is unlikely to have a major effect on wider peace talks.

Sgt Shalit, 25, was released early in the day and ushered over the Gaza border to Egypt, where he gave an interview to Egyptian state TV.

He seemed short of breath and disorientated, and angry Israeli officials later protested that the interview was forced on him and “violated all the basic ethical rules of journalism”.

By the end of the day, he was back in his hometown of Mitzpe Hila, where flag-waving crowds lined the streets and cheered as he sped past in a white van and was ushered into the family home.

His father, Noam, gave a news conference later, saying his son felt all right but needed time to readjust to normal life.

“Our son has been reborn. We’re concluding a long and difficult journey. We’re glad that we won our son back,” said Mr Shalit.

He said he could not give too many details of his son’s captivity, saying only that in the early years he had been subjected to “harsh treatment” which had softened over time.

Sgt Shalit was a 19-year-old tank crewman when he was captured in June 2006. His family lived in a protest tent in Jerusalem for 16 months while they campaigned for his release.

Meanwhile, 477 Palestinians were freed, in the first part of an amnesty that will eventually see 1,027 prisoners released.

Some of the Palestinians had been in prison for decades, and some had been convicted of serious crimes such as murder and orchestrating suicide attacks.

Tens of thousands lined the streets of Hamas-controlled Gaza, where most of the freed prisoners were sent.

Other prisoners were taken to the West Bank while about 40 were going to Turkey, Syria or Qatar.

Witnesses said there were thousands of gun-toting masked Hamas militants, clad in black and green, patrolling roads in Gaza.

Hamas wanted a show of force, but many believe they have now played their trump card by handing over Sgt Shalit, says the BBC’s Jon Donnison in Gaza City.

The Islamist movement’s leader Khaled Meshaal, speaking in Cairo, praised the swap, claiming it as a victory.

“Negotiation based on power forces the enemy to pay the price. We have defeated the Israelis,” he said.

In the West Bank, where dozens more were sent, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas praised the former detainees as “freedom fighters”.

Mr Abbas, whose Fatah movement appeared to have been outflanked by the swap deal, promised that more Palestinian prisoners would be freed soon.

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