Hamas Frees Gilad Shalit, Swapped +1000 Palestinian Prisoners

Hamas, a Palestinian militant group, released Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit from more than five years in prison on Tuesday, handing him over to Egyptian security forces who will pass him to Israel. Gilad Shalit is an Israeli and French national and an IDF soldier who was abducted on 25 June 2006 by Hamas militants from Gaza in a cross-border raid.

Israel, on the other hand, freed 477 Palestinian inmates from Israeli jails shortly before Shalit was released. The release of Shalit is part of the deal to release over 1,000 Palestinian convicted prisoners, including hundreds convicted of terrorism and multiple murders. The 1,000-plus convicts to be swapped for Shalit include Palestinians convicted as terrorists, a number of whom have been accused of planning or carrying out killings.


Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that controls Gaza, agreed last week to a two-stage release of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners, including hundreds serving life sentences for attacks on Israelis.

The second stage is scheduled to take place later this year.

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Source: http://edition.cnn.com/