Kidnapped soldier on Hamas video

HAMAS militants yesterday traded a two-minute video showing an apparently unharmed captured Israeli soldier for 19 Palestinian women held in Israeli jails – the first tangible step toward defusing a key flashpoint in Israeli-Palestinian hostilities.

Defence Minister Ehud Barak said Sgt Gilad Schalit, taken captive by Hamas-linked militants in June 2006, appeared healthy. An official who had seen the video said the 23-year-old serviceman spoke lucidly about an event in his past.

He gave no further details, but Hamas officials reported on the group’s website the soldier discussed an accident he had in the military before he was taken captive.

It was the first glimpse of Schalit since his capture. Before yesterday, the only signs of life had been three letters and an audio tape.

The Palestinian prisoners’ triumphant return home to a flag-waving and cheering crowd, together with the video’s arrival in Israel, gave hope to each side that a wider, long-awaited prisoner swap was in the offing.

Hamas is demanding freedom for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners as their price for Schalit, whose capture in a bloody cross-border raid has touched a raw nerve in a country where most families have loved ones in the military.

Yesterday’s deal could also herald an end to a crippling, Israel-led blockade of Gaza, which has prevented the territory from rebuilding after Israel’s winter war there.

Israel imposed the blockade after Hamas, a violent group backed by Iran and Syria, seized power in Gaza two years ago. Israel has made it clear that it will not ease the embargo before the serviceman is freed.

Hamas’s prime minister in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, hailed the deal as a “triumph” for the armed Palestinian resistance against Israel.

Israeli media reported that the video would be aired publicly soon.

A Hamas website cites officials as saying the video was filmed on September 14, and shows Schalit, dressed in a military uniform, sitting on a chair and reading a daily newspaper published in Gaza.

Schalit demonstrates his good health by standing on the chair for five seconds before sitting down again, the officials said.

Israeli media, citing officials who had seen the video, confirmed that Schalit was seen with a newspaper dated September 14 – Hamas’s proof the footage was taken recently.

Israel’s Channel 2 TV said Schalit was reading from a text. The young man addressed his parents in the video and discussed the military accident, it reported. He also addressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, without giving further details.

Channel 2 reported that Schalit appeared thin and close-cropped, and had dark circles around his eyes.

A spokesman for Netanyahu, Nir Hefetz, said that “although the path to Gilad’s release is still long ... the fact that he is healthy and whole is encouraging.” He also held Hamas responsible for the soldier’s well-being.

About 200 people waving Palestinian flags greeted vans carrying 18 of the women into the West Bank. The prisoners, wearing the headscarves of devout Muslim women, blew kisses to the crowd.