IN A carefully orchestrated operation Israel is due to release 1,027 Palestinian and Israeli Arab prisoners today in return for Sgt Gilad Shalit, who has been held in captivity by militants in Gaza for more than five years.
Sgt Shalit, now 25, was captured in 2006 when militants tunnelled under the Gaza border and took an Israeli tank crew by surprise. Two soldiers were killed and a third, Sgt Shalit, was seized and taken back to Gaza where he has been held incommunicado since.
Israeli defence officials concluded that a rescue mission would be too risky. After years of bitter negotiations via German and Egyptian mediators, Israel and Hamas finally reached agreement last week on a prisoner swap.
Most Israelis serve a compulsory three-year stint in the military (two years for women) and the country has always prided itself on not leaving soldiers in enemy hands. The return of Sgt Shalit – the first time in 26 years that a captured soldier will return home alive – is expected to be a moment of high drama.
A poll published yesterday revealed massive public support for the prisoner swap: 79 per cent said they supported the deal with only 14 per cent opposed.
After crossing the border, first from Gaza to Egypt and then from Egypt to Israel, Sgt Shalit will be flown by military helicopter to an airforce base. After being welcomed by Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, defence minister Ehud Barak and the head of the Israeli defence forces, Lieut Gen Benny Gantz, the soldier will be reunited with his family.
Gaza and the West Bank are preparing a heroes’ welcome for the returning prisoners. Under the terms of the agreement with Israel, 40 of them will be deported abroad.
Israel’s supreme court last night rejected petitions by bereaved relatives against the release. After the court heard a number of emotional pleas from relatives against the deal, Noam Shalit, Gilad’s father, told the judges that any delay could have fateful consequences. “We understand their pain. We know that this is a very difficult deal,” he said. “Unfortunately, suspending the deal won’t bring the victims of terror back to life, but it could condemn Gilad to death.”