Swap “Triumph” of Armed Resistance against Israel: Hamas
02/10/2009 Nineteen Palestinian women prisoners were freed on Friday in a swap for a video of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
Friends, relatives and officials cheered and wept, as prisoners were driven out of a military base on their way to a ceremony in Ramallah.
The release came after military Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi assessed the footage, which Israeli media said showed Shalit in good health and speaking coherently.
The women left the Israeli prison where they were being held early Friday, with 18 later freed in the West Bank and one into Gaza. A further prisoner is to be freed in the coming days.
The DVD was sent to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after Ashkenazi analyzed it, officials said.
As part of a three-stage deal, Israelis ensured the video of Shalit met the established criteria before they gave the green light for the women to be freed.
Netanyahu's office stressed that the latest development did not herald Shalit's imminent release, but was meant as a confidence-building measure ahead of "decisive stages in the negotiations," and warned that the talks were still expected to be "long and arduous."
Palestinian Prime Minister in Gaza chief Ismail Haniyeh said on Friday that the deal was a 'triumph' of the armed resistance against Israel.
He congratulated the families of the female prisoners, saying Hamas would not rest until all the Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel would be released.
The deal came after nearly three years of on-again, off-again Egyptian-brokered negotiations between Israel and Hamas. German mediators also joined the talks in July.
Thousands of Palestinians are in Israeli prisons, and those freed on Friday were among dozens of women prisoners, who in some cases gave birth to their children behind bars. There are hundreds of Palestinian prisoners under 18 years old.
02/10/2009 Nineteen Palestinian women prisoners were freed on Friday in a swap for a video of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
Friends, relatives and officials cheered and wept, as prisoners were driven out of a military base on their way to a ceremony in Ramallah.
The release came after military Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi assessed the footage, which Israeli media said showed Shalit in good health and speaking coherently.
The women left the Israeli prison where they were being held early Friday, with 18 later freed in the West Bank and one into Gaza. A further prisoner is to be freed in the coming days.
The DVD was sent to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after Ashkenazi analyzed it, officials said.
As part of a three-stage deal, Israelis ensured the video of Shalit met the established criteria before they gave the green light for the women to be freed.
Netanyahu's office stressed that the latest development did not herald Shalit's imminent release, but was meant as a confidence-building measure ahead of "decisive stages in the negotiations," and warned that the talks were still expected to be "long and arduous."
Palestinian Prime Minister in Gaza chief Ismail Haniyeh said on Friday that the deal was a 'triumph' of the armed resistance against Israel.
He congratulated the families of the female prisoners, saying Hamas would not rest until all the Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel would be released.
The deal came after nearly three years of on-again, off-again Egyptian-brokered negotiations between Israel and Hamas. German mediators also joined the talks in July.
Thousands of Palestinians are in Israeli prisons, and those freed on Friday were among dozens of women prisoners, who in some cases gave birth to their children behind bars. There are hundreds of Palestinian prisoners under 18 years old.
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