Video of Israeli hostage released

Palestinian militants have finally released footage of an Israeli soldier they captured three years ago. The two-minute video showed Gilad Shalit reading a statement in Hebrew. He appeared to be healthy and coherent and even seemed to smile. The 23-year-old was shown holding an Arabic-language newspaper dated September 14th - a message from his Palestinian captors to the Israeli authorities that he is still alive. Israel received the video in return for the release of 20 Palestinian women prisoners from its jails as part of a deal with Hamas. The women were driven from the Israeli Hasharon prison near Tel Aviv and were carried by International Red Cross vehicles to border crossings with the Palestinian enclaves in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Their release is the most positive move in three years of efforts to free Mr Shalit, who was taken prisoner by guerrillas in a cross-border raid in June 2006.

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ITN | October 2, 2009

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