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.