Israeli soldier moved to Egypt, Palestinians say

JERUSALEM?? Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit has been moved from the Gaza Strip to Egypt, beginning an elaborate prisoner swap deal in which hundreds of Palestinian inmates are to be freed in return for the captured tank crewman, Palestinian officials said Tuesday.

The Associated Press reported that an SUV whisked Schalit across the border and quickly returned to Gaza early Tuesday. They say buses of Palestinian prisoners are now moving from Israel into Egypt en route to Gaza.

Israeli-Palestinian prisoner swaps: a deadly cycle?

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

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A Hamas military source also told Reuters that Schalit had been handed over to Egyptian officials.

The exchange, negotiated through mediators because Israel and Hamas will not talk directly to each other, is going ahead despite criticism and court appeals in Israel against the release of 1,027 Palestinians, many of whom were involved in deadly attacks.

"The captured soldier handover process is under way, and the Palestinian resistance groups are about to finalize his handover to Egypt," said Abu Mujahid, whose Hamas-allied group, the Popular Resistance Committees, helped captured Schalit in a June 2006 cross-border raid.

The deal caps a five-and-a-half year saga that saw multiple Israeli military offensives in the Gaza Strip, an Israeli blockade on the territory and numerous rounds of negotiations that ended in deadlock.

Officials on both sides have said that conditions prompted in part by the recent Egyptian revolution helped drive them to an agreement. Both sides have been eager to have good ties with the new Egyptian regime, which brokered the deal.

Schalit was expected to be brought to an Israeli military base along the Egypt border, where he was to be issued a new military uniform and given another medical examination, according to the Israeli military. Although he appeared healthy the last time he was seen ? in a brief and scripted 2009 video released by Hamas ? he was denied all visits, including by the Red Cross, and the state of his mental and physical health is unclear.

Who wins in the prisoner swap deal?

Schalit will then be flown by helicopter to an air force base in central Israel, where he will meet his parents, as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the defense minister and military chief of staff.

An intense media campaign to free Schalit made him a national symbol in Israel, and all local radio and TV stations held special live broadcasts Tuesday, following every development as the exchange progressed.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44940342/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

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