The final preparations are taking place for the release of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in return for the release of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in an exchange deal struck between Israel and Hamas.
The first phase of the swap began before dawn with 96 inmates moved to the Ofer prison in the West Bank, according to a spokeman for Israel's prison service.
The swap is going ahead despite much contention from families of Israelis killed by some of the Palestinian prisoners. On Monday the Israeli supreme court turned down an appeal for a 48-hour delay from the families of victims of attacks.
Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has told the families that he "shares their pain in seeing their loved ones' murderers freed" but had little choice. Netanyahu said he knew "the price was very heavy" for relatives of the victims but he "was faced with the responsibility of the prime minister of Israel to bring home every soldier who is sent to protect our citizens".
Gilad Shalit, now 25, has been held since being seized by Hamas militants who tunnelled into Israel in 2006. He was 19 at the time. After release it is expected he will be taken into custody of the Red Cross and Egyptian intelligence officials. This is likely to happen at the same time as 27 women prisoners are freed.
The swap will involve a staggered release – 477 Palestinians will be let out of prison in this initial phase and a further 550 prisoners will follow within two months.
The list of prisoners being released was published on Sunday and it naturally includes some controversial cases, which you can read about here.
Gilad Shalit has just been taken from Gaza into Egyptian custody, according to al-Quds television, which is close to Hamas.
Our correspondent in Gaza, Chris McGreal, says Shalit will remain there for a short period before being transferred into Israel. The 27 female prisoners will also be transferred at this point.
Palestinian officials said an SUV took Shalit across the border and quickly returned to Gaza early in the morning. Buses of Palestinian prisoners are now reportedly moving from Israel into Egypt en route to Gaza.
Family of Gilad Shalit leave their home in Mitzpe Hila to go and collect him. Photograph: Uriel Sinai/Getty
Cal Perry, al-Jazeera's Middle East correspondent, says Gilad Shalit's parents have left their house:
The parents of #giladshalit are preparing to chopper south to an Army base where they will be met by the PM and head of the #IDF
CNN correspondent Matthew Chance tweets:
#Hamas says all released prisoners being checked in Egypt. Says ICRC confirms all prisoners present.
Extended family, supporters, the press and police have been shown on the BBC gathered outside Gilad Shalit's family home in Mitzpe Hila, Israel, where a big screen was showing tweets of support as they come in.
Likewise, Palestinian families have been gathering at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt to welcome their relatives.
Some of the prisoners won't be allowed back into the Palestinian territories – roughly 30 are being sent into exile in other countries including Jordan, Turkey, Qatar and Syria after Israel was adamant it regarded them as too dangerous to be sent home.
The BBC is citing Israeli radio, which reports that Shalit is at the Kerem Shalom crossing, in Egyptian custody. Haaretz is also live-tweeting the prisoner exchange:
@haaretzonline: Buses carrying Palestinian prisoners roll out, in effective confirmation of Gilad Shalit's presence in Egyptian hands
Al-Jazeera says the Red Cross has completed the identification process of all Palestinian prisoners to be handed over by Israel.
Jerusalem Post says the deal is worth it, despite the increase risk of terrorism.
This collective willingness to expose ourselves to the risk of a future terrorist attack, if necessary, to secure Shalit's release speaks volumes about Israelis' strong sense that we are all in this Zionist project together, in good times and in bad. It's not that we are insensitive to the feelings of past terrorist victims' families and loved ones. Nor are we unaware that many, even most, of those who will be released will return to violent terrorism – and that by paying a ratio of 1 to 1,027 we are encouraging future kidnappings. It's just that none of these potential future dangers seems to be able to trump the fact that right now an IDF soldier's life is being saved.
The Israeli blogger, A Soldiers Mother, takes a similar tone. Writing on the eve of the exchange she says:
I'm fine with living in a land that would trade 1,027 terrorists and murderers to get back one Jewish soul. Am I afraid of future deals and more kidnappings and attacks - of course I am. But for tomorrow, I'm going to put that all aside and thank God I live in Israel, where we would let loose these killers to save Gilad. I thank God I don't live in a society that will take to the streets tomorrow to celebrate the return of killers, that my country will be cleansed of the filth that is Ahlam Tamimi and the like.No, not all - but most of the 1,027th of them will go to Gaza, Syria, Turkey, Qatar and I'm going to believe that the air I breathe will be that much cleaner, disproportionally cleaner than it is right now.
Writing in Haaretz Yehuda Ben Meir praises the Israeli negotiators.
Due to the Israeli stubbornness and steadfastness, Hamas was forced to make two serious concessions. The first concerns who was released. Hamas retreated from its original demand to release Abdullah Barghouti, Ibrahim Hamed, Abbas Sayad, Hassan Salameh, Ahmed Saadat, Marwan Barghouti and others, and in doing so conceded on the senior members of its military wing and clear symbols of terror. There is something of an exaggeration in the words of the head of the Shin Bet security service that Hamas' leaders remain in prison, but at least there's a kernel of truth to it.
The second concession, which Netanyahu deserves praise for, is Hamas' agreement to deport to Gaza and overseas 203 of the released - almost half the terrorists who committed the most serious acts and two-thirds of those who live in the West Bank. True, it's better to be abroad or in Gaza than in an Israeli prison, but the ones released can't return home. For them that's just half-freedom.
Harriet Sherwood, in northern Israel, says the exchange is going more quickly than anticipated.
The Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit has completed the first stage on his journey back to his home in Mizpe Hila in northern Israel. According to an Israeli military spokesman, he is on his way to the Tel Nof air base in central Israel where he will be reunited with his parents and meet Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
Meanwhile hundreds of Palestinian prisoners are in position waiting to be released to Gaza and the West Bank. The Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh and other leading Hamas figures are at Rafah to welcome the prisoners. Those being released to the West Bank will be taken to President Mahmoud Abbas's compound in Ramallah for a ceremony which includes laying a wreath at the tomb of Yasser Arafat.
Gilad's father, Noam Shalit says: "You can say this is one of the happiest days of my life."
His comments are carried on a live blog from the Israeli daily Haaretz. It began at 5.16am local time (4.16am BST). The Shalit family has arrived at the Tel Nof air force base, it says.
Haaretz has also published an published an 11-step guide to how the release is expected to unfold.
The release of Shalit may not be happening quite as fast as we thought a few moments ago. The Israeli military has issued a clarification, according to Harriet Sherwood.
The IDF are now saying that Shalit is not en route to Tel Nof, but is still undergoing assessment at Kerem Shalom, close to the Egyptian-Israeli border.
Meanwhile, Fawaz Gerges of the London School of Economics, gloomily puts the exchange into perspective on BBC World:
You have still more than 5,000 Palestinian prisoners. The peace process is frozen and Mahmoud Abbas has gone to the UN requesting statehood for the Palestinians. It's a big day [for Israelis and Palestinians] but conditions on the ground will hardly change.
The Telegraph's Adrian Blomfield tweets the sense of anticipation in Gaza.
Festive atmosphere in #gaza. Green #Hamas flags everywhere, hooting convoys and blaring music as gazans await prisoners #GiladShalit
AP has this account of the first stage of Shalit's release.
Hamas militants whisked a captured Israeli soldier across the Gaza border into Egypt early Tuesday, beginning an elaborate prisoner swap deal in which hundreds of Palestinian inmates are to be freed in return for the captured tank crewman.
The officials said an SUV filled with armed men took Gilad Shalit across the border and quickly returned to Gaza early Tuesday. Buses of Palestinian prisoners were also beginning to move from Israel into Egypt en route to Gaza, they said.
A Gaza militant leader said the Palestinians were waiting until all 477 prisoners were moved into Palestinian territory before turning Shalit over to the Egyptians, who have acted as mediators in the deal. In the meantime, he said armed men would remain with Shalit in Egypt.
"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 Shalit in a June 2006 cross-border raid.
Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV reported that a high-level Hamas delegation arrived on the Egyptian side of the border crossing in preparation for a formal handover of Shalit and to greet the returning prisoners.
In an elaborate operation, Shalit was then to be taken across Egypt's border into Israel, and then flown to an air base in central Israel to be reunited with his family.
Shalit's father, Noam, made a brief television appearance on his way to the base. Asked whether this was the happiest day of his life, he said: "Yes, you can make that assumption."
Shalit has been in Egyptian hands for the last hour, according to Egyptian TV, al-Jazeera's Sherine Tadros tweets:
#egypt state TV correspondent: #shalit has been in egyptian custody for 60mins, he is wearing military uniform
The Guardian has launched a new photo gallery on the prisoner exchange.
It includes this image of Israelis hugging outside the Shalit family home in Mitzpe Hila, northern Israel.
The Twitter feed of the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement makes the point that many of the prisoners will be freed to blockaded territory in Gaza.
The prisoners will exit the prison to enter the prison. Free Palestine
Egypt's government is stepping up security at Cairo airport as it prepares to fly Palestinians freed under the prisoner exchange deal an Egyptian intelligence source told Reuters.
Cairo airport raised security to emergency level as it prepared to transport 40 of the Palestinians to three countries as part of the swap deal, the intelligence source said.
The source said the prisoners were being sent to Turkey, Syria and Qatar and that their travel formalities were being overseen by Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal.
Shalit is undergoing checks by Israeli medics, Harriet Sherwood at the Shalit family home in Mitzpe Hila, has been told.
In a telephone update she said:
The process is going quite quickly. I think he is now in Israel at a military base, close to the Egyptian border, where he is undergoing various assessments. Then he is going to be flown to Tel Nof air base, where he will meet his parents and the prime minister. Then he will be bought by helicopter up here ... presumably at some point Israeli intelligence officials will begin a very long and delicate process of debriefing him.
My understanding is that he is now in Israeli hands, but we are getting a lot of conflicting reports. I think this is going to be a day of confusion ... I've just heard, again an unconfirmed report, that two female prisoners are refusing to cross into Gaza ... There is quite a lot of potential for hitches, but at the moment it does seem to be going according to plan. It is now in everybody's interests that it proceeds smoothly.
Harriet talked to 14-year-boy who has been putting up 'welcome home' banners near the home. This is very happy day for both the Shalit family and the Mitzpe Hila community, he told her. "It [the mood] is obviously very cheerful. It has been a very hard five years for this little community. The banners are out and they are waiting to welcome their boy back," Harriet said.
Egypt played a vital role in ensuring that today's prisoner exchange went ahead - proving its value as an intermediary and key regional actor despite domestic turmoil and the deterioration of its relations with Israel, writes Ian Black.
Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, last week phoned Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, head of the Egyptian military council, to thank him and then did so again publicly - only the second time they have spoken since the February revolution overthrew President Hosni Mubarak.
And the Egyptian government has been happy to advertise the normally discreet services of its intelligence chief, General Murad Muwafi, who replaced Mubarak's confidante Omar Suleiman and helped seal the extraordinary swap between Israel and its Hamas enemy.
The surprise is that relations between the neighbours have been in sharp decline since the overthrow of Mubarak, a valued ally who always ensured that the 1979 peace treaty was respected. Israel has been dismayed at the new prominence of Islamists in Egypt and claimed to detect their influence in May when Muwafi brokered a long-delayed rapprochement between Hamas and its PLO rival, suggesting a sharp policy shift in Cairo.
It was felt that Mubarak had not wanted to help give Hamas, which is at odds with the PLO, the political boost it will now certainly now get by having engineered the release of 1,027 prisoners in exchange for the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
Only last month there were furious scenes when an Egyptian crowd stormed the Israeli embassy in Cairo in protest at Israel's killing of five Egyptian border guards. Repeated sabotage attacks on gas pipelines in Sinai and ambivalent Egyptian statements about the peace treaty have also rung alarm bells.
But Israel then apologised for the killings – in striking contrast to its refusal to do so for the deaths of nine activists on the Turkish ship which tried to break the blockade of Gaza. Egypt is now expected to free Ilan Grapel, a US-Israeli dual national detained on spying charges, in exchange for Egyptian prisoners in Israel.
Details of the prisoner negotiations were closely guarded but it now transpires that Egypt played a very active role and presented 20 different offers to Israel and Hamas in the last three months in order to reach agreement.
The question now is whether Egypt can use its position as mediator and facilitator to make any further contribution to easing Israeli-Palestinian tensions. The blockade of Gaza is one area where it could help as it pursues a new policy of closing down the tunnels used for smuggling while gradually opening the border at Rafah. Hamas tried to make lifting the siege a condition of the prisoner talks, arguing that the release of Shalit would remove Israel's "excuse" for a measure it condemns as collective punishment. But Israel continues to see Gaza as a "hostile entity" and Hamas as a terrorist organization.
Egyptian, Arab and European pressure are now likely on this point but in the last analysis it is the Israelis and Palestinians themselves who will decide what, if anything, happens once their respective celebrations over the prisoner releases are over. It is still hard to see them finding common ground again any time soon.
Several families in Gaza were led to believe their relatives were were going to be released today only to be told they won't, Chris McGreal reports from Gaza.
I was talking to one man ... whose brother is serving a life sentence for killing Israeli soldiers. He was originally told that his brother would be released. The family have been preparing a big celebration. Suddenly a couple of days ago they discovered his name isn't on the list ... There's quite a lot of that. There's several thousand Palestinian prisoners still in Israeli jails. They are clearly disappointed.
But the prisoner exchange is generally welcomed in Gaza, Chris reports, as families of prisoners who are due to be release wait at the Rafah Crossing.
Most of them haven't seen their relatives in years. Then, some time later today, there will be a militarized Hamas-led parade through the centre of Gaza city to formerly welcome the prisoners back and put them on display. The preparations for that are already very evident. There are new flags everywhere. Palestinian flags, Hamas flags. A lot of Hamas security forces on the streets, the police, but also those Hamas fighters who tend to dress in camouflage and cover their faces in black bandannas. They look quite menacing.Overwhelming people do support it. They see it as a good deal: one Israeli soldier for more than a thousand Palestinian prisoners. This swap has got a lot of support from Palestinians and will be something of a boast to Hamas, which has been politically beleaguered even in its stronghold of Gaza, recently.
The BBC is reporting that Israeli Defence Forces Galid Shalit has been seen for the first time on Egyptian television.
A huge screen in Mizpe Hila is showing pictures of Gilad Shalit in the hands of Egyptian officials, Harriet Sherwood reports from outside the Shalit home.
Local resident Amir Gazit, 47, said: "We've been waiting so long. It's an amazing feeling."
Another resident of the small community near the Lebanese border, Karen Asscher, said the family would be allowed privacy and peace once back at home. "It's a very close knit community," she said. Her five year old twin sons had grown up knowing who Gilad Shalit was, she added. "My feeling as a mother is that it doesn't matter what the price (of his release) is."
The first pictures have been broadcast of a freed Gilad Shalit.
Al-Jazeera's Evan Hill tweets:
Egypt state TV airs first images of Shalit emerging from truck, he looks pale and skinny, not in uniform, wearing black cap.
The Israeli Defence Force tweets that Shalit is still in Egypt.
Gilad Shalit will meet #IDF reps who will take him to Kerem Shalom crossing, where they will cross into #Israel. #giladshalit
Two female Palestinian prisoners, including Amima Mona, are refusing to be transferred to Gaza, Chris McGreal reports from Gaza.
The women say they don't want to be exiled and imprisoned in Gaza, Chris reports. "It is small hitch. It doesn't look like it will hold up the exchange," he says.
Chris McGreal is live tweeting from Gaza.
Palestinian radio reporting that two of 27 women prisoners freed by Israel are refusing to enter Gaza from Egypt. http://bit.ly/rhW1mj
Three planes are taking about 40 of the Palestinian prisoners freed by Israel to exile in Turkey, Syria and Qatar.
Hamas leadership now gathered on Egyptian border. First buses carrying prisoners moving toward Rafah immigration post in to Gaza.
Gilad Shalit appears in baseball cap, looking thin, as he is handed over to Israel
For Hamas the hard part will be sustaining high public spirits after the parade to mark the prisoners' release, the Los Angeles Times argues.
The "Arab Spring" has upset the regional order, leaving Hamas feeling backdrafts of the winds of change.
Ties with key benefactors Iran and Syria are looking strained amid reports that Tehran recently slashed funding to Hamas. At the same time, the group appears to be scrambling to relocate its political headquarters out of increasingly unstable Damascus, where popular protests are threatening Syrian President Bashar Assad's government.
Hamas has also seen its popularity plummet this year in Gaza and the West Bank, polls show. Palestinians criticize the group for its strong-arm rule over Gaza and confrontational stance toward the outside world, which fueled an economic boycott by the West and rigid restrictions by Israel on the movement of goods and people.
In a possible nod to democratic reforms being demanded throughout the Arab world, some members of Hamas, which won 2006 Palestinian elections, are calling for the group to hold its first open election in years for the Shura Council, a secretive leadership body that charts the group's strategy. But such a step could expose internal tensions between moderates and extremists.
"They're in a panic," said Omar Shaban, head of the Gaza City-based think tank Pal-Think for Strategic Studies. "So Hamas is seeking to legitimize itself and become part of a bigger political system because it thinks that will make it more secure."
Shalit has entered Israeli territory, the BBC is reporting on it live blog.
The IDF says he is not, but that was nine minutes ago.
Meanwhile, this footage from Egyptian TV has been uploaded to YouTube.
Shalit is now in Israel, the IDF have confirmed.
BREAKING: #IDF Spokesperson: "Gilad Shalit is in #Israel". #giladshalit
Here's a quick summary of where things stand at the moment.
• Gilad Shalit is on Israeli soil for the first time in five years. The first pictures of him have been broadcast. He looks pale and skinny but Israeli sources say he is in good health. It is understood that he will undergo medical checks at a military base close to the Egyptian border before he is taken to the Tel Nof airbase in central Israel. At the airbase he will be reunited with his parents and meet Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Shalit's father Noam says: "You can say this is one of the happiest days of my life." Earlier, Shilat was handed over to Egyptian custody by Hamas.
• The Palestinian prisoners' bus is reportedly about to enter Egypt. The Red Cross has completed the identification process of all Palestinian prisoners to be handed over by Israel. Hamas flags are flying in Gaza and people are blaring music and hooting their car horns as they await the prisoners.
• Two of the 27 female Palestinian prisoners due to be released, including Amima Mona, are refusing to be transferred to Gaza. The women say they don't want to be exiled and imprisoned in Gaza but their refusal does not appear to be holding up the exchange.
• Family and supporters have gathered outside Shalit's family home in Mitzpe Hila, Israel. Palestinian families have been gathering at the Rafah crossing with Egypt to welcome their relatives.
Egyptian television is running an interview with Shalit now, the details of which are being tweeted by a number of people.
He says he was told of his release a week ago and that "Hamas treated me well".
The Guardian's Chris McGreal tweets:
#Shalit speaking in Hebrew. Appears exhausted. Looks to be having trouble focusing. Doesn't answer some questions.
During his interview with Egyptian TV, Shalit also expressed his hope for a Middle East peace deal and that remaining Palestinian prisoners be freed:
I hope this deal would contribute to the peace between Israel and Palestinians ...I will be happy if all the [Palestinian] prisoners are free. It would give me great happiness.
It will be interesting to compare - and possibly contrast - his comments when he gives an interview to Israeli television.
Meanwhile a coach carrying Palestinian prisoners has crossed into Gaza, where they have been given a rapturous reception.
Screengrab from BBC News
The BBC says around 180 Palestinian prisoners are now in Gaza where they are meeting the Hamas prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh.
Shalit looked physically and mentally weak in his interview on Egyptian TV, Chris McGreal reports from Gaza.
What was most striking about it wasn't so much his answers as his condition. He looked exhausted. He looked at times very unfocused. He didn't answer the questions; quite often he avoided them or stopped mid-sentence. It seems quite clear that the five years in Hamas captivity is has taken quite a physical and mental toll on Shalit.
He said he had been treated well by Hamas and he said he had been told only a week ago that he was going to be released. He thought this was the last chance for a negotiated release.
He was asked whether, now that he was free, he would campaign for the release of remaining Palestinian prisoners. He said it would make him very happy to see all Palestinian prisoners released.
I'm sure the Israeli authorities will be very upset by this [the interview]. They have been seeking to protect him as much as they can. His whole presence in Israel is going to be sealed off from the media, until he is ready to go public. The Israelis may have been caught on the hop by this.
The television interviewer didn't seem very sympathetic to the difficulties Shalit was having. She was pressing him even though he was clearly having a hard time focusing. The interview did seem to go on much longer than he was comfortable with.
I imagine there will be Israelis who will be upset by this interview. They will feel he was put in an impossible position ... effectively pressured into doing the interview. But I doubt that it will overshadow the whole of the days events.
Listen to the full interview with Chris above.
The IDF has posted a picture online of Shalit on the phone to his parents:
From IDF photostream on flickr
The Israeli military says a medical examination has found him to be in good condition.
There have been clashes between Palestinian protesters and the IDF near Ramallah. Haaretz reports that protesters were upset when they heard that prisoners would not be released at the re-determined location they were waiting at. The Israeli military fired teargas to disperse the crowd.
The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, has been addressing a huge crowd in Ramallah. In his speech, he thanked Egypt for the role it played in the prisoner exchange. We'll have more details of what he said soon.
Hamas says that 200,000 people have gathered in Gaza to welcome the freed prisoners.
The wall-to-wall media coverage is laughably one-sided in favour of Israel, complains former British diplomat turned activist Craig Murray.
I had the peculiar thought this morning that the crazed extremism of the Netanyahu government, with their walls and accelerated settlement building, may not be a bad thing in the long term. Another year or two of this kind of land grab and a two state solution will become patently impractical, and unacceptable to all Palestinians. As someone who has always favoured a single, secular democratic state in Israel/Palestine, I am hopeful that the two state idea, which is a Zionist trap into which well meaning but despairing liberals fell, will lose support when it becomes clear that the proposed Palestinian state is becoming an ever shrinking, increasingly disconnected series of tiny waterless and resourceless bantustans.
A curt press release from the IDF confirms the handover of the Palestinian prisoners. It makes no reference to - or acknowledgement of - Palestine or the West Bank (using the biblical names of Judea and Samaria for the West Bank).
Today, October 18th, 2011, at 12:00, the transfer of the prisoners released as part of the process to free Sergeant First Class Gilad Shalit was completed. The prisoners passed through a crossing near the Ofer Prison, and the Kerem Shalom crossing, into Judea and Samaria, Israel and Egypt.
The International Committee of the Red Cross assisted in the transfer of prisoners.
Harriet Sherwood has an update from Shalit's home. The helicopter carrying him is expected to arrive at the Tel Nof airbase, where he will be reunited with his parents, in a few minutes.
Anticipation is mounting in Mizpe Hila. Local residents of this tiny community and its near neighbours are decked out in t-shirts saying "It's good that you came home", and banners and Israeli flags are lining the route that the convoy bearing Gilad Shalit will take to his home after a helicopter brings him from the Tel Nof airbase in central Israel this afternoon.
Big screens at the end of the road in which the Shalits live and in the local community centre have just shown Gilad Shalit arriving on Israeli soil to loud whoops and cheers.
Ella Hefez, who has been a volunteer with the Shalit campaign for three years, said she thought Shalit "seemed better than we thought. Of course he is very thin, very white - but he had a smile and this is the most important thing. No one knows how it is to be in captivity for so long and alone, but I'm sure he will be strong and okay."
Despite being "from the left side", Hefez said she would vote for prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu at the next Israeli election. I have such a big appreciation for him. This was not an easy decision for him."
Here is video of the moment Shalit was handed over.
In an interview with Egyptian television, he said:
They were long years. But I always thought the day would come when I finally get out of captivity.
Daniel Levy, senior fellow at the New America Foundation and former adviser to Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, deconstructs the deal in Foreign Policy magazine.
Despite the concessions he offered to Hamas the Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu is being praised for rare decisiveness, Levy says.
This has already changed the conversation in Israel, and undoubtedly will for some time. Netanyahu will attempt to draw a line under the summer of social protests and over the question mark surrounding his lack of a peace policy. As bizarre as it may seem -- after all how can this deal be a substitute for actually having a regional or security strategy for Israel, especially in the face of the Arab Spring? -- this really cuts the mustard for much of the public. When the winter session of the Knesset convenes after the Jewish holidays (this may also help explain the timing), Netanyahu will have a new narrative as a strong leader willing to make a hard but necessary choice.
The IDF has posted video on YouTube of Shalit meeting Israeli officers after his release.
Harriet Sherwood tweets more from the Shalit family home in Mizpe Hila:
Man whose son was killed in bus attack saying on tv he is happy for the family and in favour of the deal
Chopper is landing at Tel Nof in few seconds
Israeli black hawk helicopter in sky bringing Shalit to his parents at Tel Nof
Israeli tv reporting that Shalit will land Tel Nof in a few minutes
Loud cheers at community centre at images of Shalit in Israeli army uniform
In Mizpe Hila, home of the Shalit family, awaiting his return. Gilad Shalit on his way to Tel Nof airbase to meet parents
Meanwhile, Chris McGreal tweets the scene in Gaza:
Large crowd heart of Gaza city awaiting freed Pal prisoners incl relatives woman failed suicide bomber
Addressing a large crowd in Ramallah including freed prisoners, the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Israel promised him that it would free more prisoners following the two-stage swap, says AP. It points out it was the first mention of such a release. The prisoner swap was of course negotiated by Abbas's political rival Hamas.
Here are some quotes from Abbas's speech:
Dear brother and sisters, your families in Palestinian territories and around the world are looking at you now and are happy that you are being released.
Your efforts have not been in vain. You have sacrificed, fought and paid the price. You will see the results of your struggle by the inception of a free and independent Palestinian state whose capital is Jerusalem.
The International Committee of Red Cross, which acted as an intermediary in the exchange, has welcomed progress so far but criticised both Hamas and Israel for denying access to captives.
Juan Pedro Schaerer, the head of the ICRC delegation for Israel and the occupied territories, said:
We welcome today's events. They are a source of great joy for the many families who are being reunited with their loved ones. At the same time, we regret that repeated requests made over the past five years by the ICRC for access to Mr Shalit, in order to monitor his condition and to facilitate the exchange of news with his family, were uniformly rejected. And we regret that hundreds of families of Palestinians from Gaza held in Israeli places of detention were punished by being prevented from visiting their detained relatives.
Many commentators think the exchange will have a minimal impact on the peace process, but UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon is optimistic.
Speaking to Reuters he said:
With this release, it will have a far-reaching positive impact to the stalled Middle East peace process.
I am very encouraged by the prisoner exchange today after many many years of negotiation. The United Nations has been calling for (an end to) the unacceptable detention of Gilad Shalit and also the release of all Palestinians whose human rights have been abused all the time.
Shalit has arrived at the Tel Nof air base in central Israel for an eagerly awaited reunion with his family.
Shalit has met the Israeli prime minister. The two men embraced. According to the BBC, Binyamin Netanyahu said:
Shalom Gilad. Welcome back to Israel. How good to have you back home.
Netanyahu is giving a press conference now at the Tel Nof air base. He says when he became prime minister two years ago he made returning Shilat alive and healthy a priority.
It involved a difficult decision, very difficult indeed.
Netanyahu says he wanted to "minimise as much as possible the danger for the citizens of Israel" as a result of the prisoner swap.
To that end serious, top-level terrorists were not released. Others were not allowed to return to the occupied territories. The Israeli PM says that for many years Hamas refused to accede to these demands but the Israelis stood firm.
I know the pain of families [whose relatives were killed by those released] ....is beyond description ...I was thinking about Gilat and the five years where he rotted as a Palestinian prisoner. I did not want his fate to be the same as Ron Arad's fate.
Netanyahu says he told Shilat's parents:
I returned your son for you.
But he says the price has been very high. And any released prisoner who reverts to terrorism, "his blood is ours".
Netanyahu concludes:
We are all blessed today with the return of Gilad home ...Our sons have returned to our borders ...The people of Israel are alive.
Here is a link to a picture of Shalit hugging his father Noam as Netanyahu looks on.
The Palestine News Network has some details of interviews given by freed Palestinian prisoners, including a complaint about the disproportionate amount of coverage given to Shalit's release:
"We thank the Egyptian government and people and everyone involved in the completion of this deal," said an unnamed prisoner interviewed on al-Jazeera, the first interview given since the release. "The price of this deal was so high, one to one thousand. Israel marketed itself at a high price. The Hamas fighters did a great job of keeping Shalit hidden."Another prisoner, asked about President Abbas' statehood bid, said the United Nations did not express the hopes of the Palestinian people and could only provide words on paper. He said an agreement between Fatah and Hamas was paramount, then the release of the rest of the 5,000 Palestinian prisoners, then the "liberation of all Palestine".
The same prisoner said he was shocked that one Israeli prisoner received so much attention, while "nobody cared" about the Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
The Ma'an news agency reports on how Palestinians are celebrating:
Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Ramallah and Gaza City on Tuesday in celebration of the release of hundreds of prisoners from Israeli jails.
More than 200,000 people rallied at al-Katiba square in Gaza City, a Hamas official involved in organizing the welcome rally said ...
"We are going home with dignity, thank God," one prisoner told Egyptian television from the bus ...
A huge stage has been erected in al-Katiba square and Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and released prisoner Yahwa Sinwar are scheduled to speak at the celebrations. Sources close to Hamas on Monday told Ma'an a third speaker would be a surprise addition to the agenda.
Hundreds of released prisoners will sit on the stage and break the walls of a symbolic jail built on the platform, officials said.
In the West Bank, classes were suspended so pupils could join sit-in tents and activities organized to welcome returning detainees, teachers' union chief Muhammad Suwwan told Ma'an.
Here's a summary of today's events.
• Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit has been freed five years after being seized by Hamas gunmen, in a deal that involves the release of 1,027 Palestinians. A gaunt Shalit told Egyptian TV that he missed his family and hoped the deal would promote peace between Israel and the Palestinians. He also spoke of his desire to see freedom for thousands of others Palestinians still held by Israel. After medical checks in Egypt Shalit was taken by helicopter to Tel Nof airbase in central Israel and was united with his family. Israeli TV showed pictures of Shalit embracing his father Noam, who said earlier: "You can say this is one of the happiest days of my life".
• As part of the exchange Israel freed 477 Palestinian prisoners, most of them to the Gaza Strip, where a rally has was held to welcome them home. They were initially greeted by families at the Rafah crossing and the Hamas prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh. Celebrations were also held in the West Bank. An unnamed prisoner told al-Jazeera: "We thank the Egyptian government and people and everyone involved in the completion of this deal."
• Two of the 27 female Palestinian prisoners, including Amima Mona, refused to be transferred to Gaza . The women said they did not want to be exiled and imprisoned in Gaza, but their protest did not hold up the exchange.
• Isreal's prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu hailed the return of Shalit but conceded it involved difficult decisions . "I know the pain of families [whose relatives were killed by those released] ....is beyond description," he said.
• Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas paid tribute to the released Palestinian prisoners. "You have sacrificed, fought and paid the price. You will see the results of your struggle by the inception of a free and independent Palestinian state whose capital is Jerusalem," he told a crowd in Ramallah.
• UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon said the prisoner exchange would help restart the stalled peace process. David Cameron said he hoped the deal would bring peace a "step closer".
AP has this footage of Palestinian prisoners being released in Gaza.
Tweet Palestine describes the scene:
So many cars hamas members fateh jabha all together united long live palestine and our revolution
The IDF has released this image of Shalit saluting prime minister Netanyahu.
The photo was taken after Shalit landed in the Tel Nof airbase, it says.
One of the released Hamas leaders, Yehiye Sinwar, has called on the group's military wing to kidnap more Israeli soldiers in order to free the remaining prisoners in Israeli jails, AP reports. Sinwar one of the founders of the Hamas military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, told Hamas's al-Aqsa TV:
We shall spare no efforts to liberate the rest of our brothers and sisters. We urge the Al Qassam Brigades to kidnap more soldiers to exchange them for the freedom of our loved ones who are still behind bars.
Sinwar had been sentenced to life in prison for his role in the kidnapping and killing of two Israeli soldiers.
Gilad Shalit appears to have suffered some health problems during the flight to the Tel Nof airbase.
Shalit fainted on the chopper ride to Tel Nof base. He's undergoing medical examinations and might be hospitalised. (IDF Spokesperson)
Relatives of freed Palestinians think it was "very good deal," Chris McGreal reports from Gaza city.
The place is absolutely packed; there are thousands upon thousands of people and more pouring in. Most of them [the relatives] haven't seen these prisoners in many years, particularly since Israel cut off access to them shortly after Gilad Shalit was abducted five years ago. Many of them hadn't expected to see their relatives for many more years. Afnan Saquer, whose father, Jalal, went to prison when she was three months old: she's now 20 and pregnant and has never seen him in the flesh.
There were a whole raft of relatives for a young woman, Wafaa al-Bess, who had served seven years of a 12 year sentence after being arrested with a bomb belt around her as she was on her way to carry out an attempted suicide bombing on the edge of Gaza.
Relatives tend to avoid speaking about the reason that prisoners were being locked up, including attacks and suicide bombings which are now repudiated as a failed strategy.
"They are being welcomed back as heroes, but nobody really wants to talk about the actions for which they were arrested because they are not something anyone is really promoting any more," Chris says.
On the political fall-out, he adds: "Hamas flags are in much more abundance that Fatah ones. Even the Fatah people say this was down to Hamas. People have marvelled at the fact that Hamas has managed to hold on to Gilad Shalit without the Israelis finding out where he was. You get a sense of certain pride that Hamas were able to pull this off in the face of all the Israeli intelligence efforts to find Shalit."
That said people are not unsympathetic to Shalit himself. They say it must have been tough for him, but they say it wasn't personal. He was a prisoner of war and that this is the only way of pressuring Israel.
Harriet Sherwood writes:
I spoke to Miki Goldwasser, whose son Ehud was abducted by Hezbollah militants near the border with Lebanon in July 2006, about a month after Gilad Shalit was snatched. He and another soldier, Eldad Regev, were killed and their remains returned to their families in a swap deal in July 2008.
I asked her if, on this day, she was sad that her son had not been returned alive. On the contrary, she said, "I feel amazing, euphoric. For me it's a great moment." She added: "I put my sadness aside. I want only to share the moment of seeing Gilad alive."
The families of the three abducted soldiers had joined forces to campaign for their release. "We were three families when we started the struggle and unfortunately my son and his fellow [captive] did not survive, but I'm just so glad that Gilad is alive and looks well."
She had come to Mizpe Hila to show solidarity with the Shalit family. Aviva Shalit, Gilad's mother, "gave birth to Gilad once, but today she's giving birth to him for the second time. This time the labour took five years."
Harriet adds that Ehud Barak, Israel's defence minister, said at Tel Nof airbase today that Israel would have to reassess how it deals with the kidnapping of its soldiers in the future. This suggests that he believes the country cannot go on paying a high price for individual soldiers - a price that has inflated over the years. "We will have to think about how we deal with captured soldiers in the future," he said, adding that the price was "painful".
An Israeli official has told AP he was shocked by a surprise interview with Egyptian TV being "forced on" Shalit minutes after he was released from captivity.
Shalit seemed physically and mentally weak during the interview (see 10.56am).
The Israeli official said: "We are all shocked that a so-called interview was forced on [Shalit]." He said the sentiment was widely shared in official Israeli ranks.
An Israeli military official has told AP that Shalit is showing signs of malnutrition and lack of exposure to the sun.
Shalit will be flown back to his home within the next hour or so, despite concerns about his fitness to fly, Harriet Sherwood reports from the Shalit home in Mizpe Hilla.
In a telephone update she said:
We are now being told that Shalit will fly back to his home village within an hour. He was a bit shaky on the flight today. There were a lot of rumours here that he may be brought back by car or that he may not come here at all, and that may be taken to hospital. But now the doctors have given him permission to fly. So, if it all goes to plan, he will be back here within an hour and half. It is a half-hour helicopter ride from Tel Nof airbase to here.
The Flickr stream Activestills is providing a counterweight to the publicity photos being released by the IDF.
It shows images of a number of released Palestinian prisoners being reunited with their families on the West Bank.
Here's some reaction from the international community to today's events. David Cameron, the British prime minister, said:
I know that people across Britain will share in the joy and relief felt by Gilad Shalit and his family today. I can only imagine the heartache of the last five years, and I am full of admiration for the courage and fortitude which Sgt Shalit and his family have shown through his long, cruel and unjustified captivity.
I congratulate Prime Minister Netanyahu and everyone involved for bringing him home safely, and hope this prisoner exchange will bring peace a step closer. Britain will continue to stand by Israel in defeating terrorism. We remain strongly committed to the cause of peace in the Middle East - with Israel and a Palestinian state living side by side in security. We will continue to work for direct negotiations to achieve that end.
French president Nicolas Sarkozy described the release of Shalit, who holds French and Israeli nationality, as "a huge relief". He said: "The fact that Gilad was recognised as being French from the beginning contributed greatly, I think, to keeping him alive ... I hope that this will allow talks [between Palestinians and Israelis] to resume."
Shalit has joint Israeli and French citizenship.
Shalit looks very weak as he descended the stairs in this video released by the IDF. In another clip released by the IDF he almost chokes on some water given to him.
Here is some more international reaction. Franco Frattini, the foreign minister of Italy, said: "The prisoners' exchange agreement ... can be read as a message of peace and can serve to encourage a resumption of negotiations."
German chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffan Seiber said:
It is to be hoped that Israel and Egypt's successful collaboration in this regard will lead to a return to good-neighbourly relations between the two countries after the period of recent tensions.
Tony Blair, the Middle East peace envoy and former British prime minister, said: "I hope it also offers us a moment of opportunity, and not simply in respect of Gaza where Hamas are presently in charge, but also for a ... revival of credibility in a peace process we really need to prioritise."
William Hague, the British foreign secretary, said:
It provides a glimmer of hope in an often bleak scene that a successful negotiation can be carried out on this difficult subject. I know it is important for Israelis and Palestinians to return to negotiation on the Middle East peace process and to approach it in the same way.
In particular, we believe Israel should be ready to make a more decisive offer than Israeli leaders have made in recent years on the peace process to give talks a chance of success.I also hope it will encourage Israel to relax the controls on the crossing points into Gaza. The extent of the controls has generally served to strengthen Hamas rather than to weaken them.
Gaza blogger Shahd Abusalama has been speaking to relatives of freed Palestinians.
In a post on Electronic Intifada she writes:
I suddenly heard people chanting and clapping and could see a woman jumping with joy. While on the phone, she said loudly, "My husband is going to be free!" Her husband is Abu Thaer Ghneem, who received a life sentence and spent 22 years in prison.
As I watched people celebrating and singing for the freedom of the Palestinian detainees, I met his only son, Thaer. He was hugging his mother tight while giving prayers to God showing their thankfulness. I touched his shoulder, attempting to get his attention. "Congratulations! How do you feel?" I asked him. "I was only one day old when my father was arrested, and now I am 22 years old. I've always known that I had a father in prison, but never had him around. Now my father is finally going to be set free and fill his place, which has been empty over the course of 22 years of my life."
Militants were urged to capture more Israeli soldiers, at a rally in Gaza, attended by tens of thousands of people, AP reports.
"The people want a new Gilad," the crowd chanted in a call for more attempts to capture Israeli soldiers in order to free thousands more Palestinian prisoners remaining in Israeli jail.
Thousands hoisted green Hamas flags, while a far smaller number raised the banners of rival movement Fatah, led by Mahmoud Abbas. The released prisoners were making their way from the border with Egypt, on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip, to Gaza City in the north, and many thousands were lining the street to cheer on the convoy.
Azhar Abu Jawad, 30, celebrated the return of a brother who had been sentenced to life for killing an Israeli in 1992. She said she last saw him eight years ago, before Israel banned visits by Gazans.
"My happiness is indescribable," she said. "We'll get him a bride and everything. I just spoke to him. He's so happy. This is a reminder, God doesn't forget anyone."
The Israeli Ynet website quotes Shalit's grandfather Tzvi Shalit as saying (via BBC): "He is in a better condition than we feared ... Gilad spoke very quietly and said that he is very tired and wants to sleep."
An IDF statement says he is on his way to his family home:
A short while ago and after completing a secondary and thorough medical examination in a medical facility purposefully established on the premises, Sergeant First Class Gilad Shalit and his family took off from the "Tel-Nof" IAF base. The family is now flying together to their home in Mitzpe Hila.
Fadwa Barghouti, whose husband Marwan Barghouti was one of the most significant omissions from the prisoner swap, has told BBC Arabic there are mixed feelings about the release of the Palestinian prisoners. She said:
The heroes have been released and left other heroes behind them ... We say despite the pain and the deep wound this deal has left us with, at the same time we say we are delighted and it is the destiny of the Palestinian people to be happy and sad at the same time.
Here is a video of Mahmoud Abbas's reaction to the return of the Palestinian prisoners.
The helicopter carrying Shalit has landed close to his family home.
Meanwhile, Turkey says a Turkish plane is on its way to Cairo to collect 10 Palestinians released in the prisoner swap but not permitted to return to the occupied territories.
Shalit has gone inside his family home. A motorcade took him to the house, passing crowds of people who had lined the roads. The BBC says 4,000 white flowers were laid on the path to his house by wellwishers.
Over in Gaza, there are more than 100,000 people in Katiba Square, the BBC's Jon Donnison says.
More video of Shalit has been released by the Israeli authorities, this time of him boarding the helicopter that flew him to Mitzpe Hila.
The Egyptian news website al-Masry al-Youm reports, citing airport sources, that 43 Palestinian prisoners are expected at Cairo International airport today. It says:
The Palestinians will leave the airport on Tuesday and Wednesday to travel to Qatar, Turkey and Syria, according to the sources, who asked not to be named.
Security authorities at the airport were put on alert to keep the transfer of the prisoners secure, the sources added.
The Guardian's Simon Tisdall writes that the prisoner swap has split opinion on Binyamin Netanyahu:
"Dear Families, I write to you with a heavy heart. I understand and know your pain," Netanyahu said in a published letter. "The state of Israel does not abandon its soldiers and citizens." All the same, he lamented, the decision to cut a deal was "among the most difficult that I have ever made".
Netanyahu has not lost his political touch. Recent polls, taken after last month's UN confrontation over Palestinian statehood, suggest he continues to dominate domestic politics. His coalition with the nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party of foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman has proven resilient. Most Israelis appear to support the Shalit exchange, responding sympathetically to the idea he was "everyone's son".
But to Netanyahu's many critics, especially in the US, the Shalit swap and other popular tactical successes, such as his routing of Barack Obama over West Bank Jewish settlement expansion, only serve to underscore the Israeli leader's lack of strategic vision. Netanyahu, it is said, has failed to delineate a future course for Israel at a moment when the region faces unprecedented, Arab spring instability – and undreamed-of opportunities.
Gilad's father Noam is speaking outside the family home.
He says:
We are today finishing a long journey, a tiring and long journey that started in June 2006 ...
Gilad has returned home after a tiring and long journey ...Finally we have managed to get him home ...Gilad is feeling well.
He says his son has shrapnel injuries and "complications due to lack of sunlight".
Gilad is very happy to be home, naturally. It's difficult for him to be exposed to so many people due to him being in isolation for such a long period of time ...He will go through a process of rehabilitation. We hope it will be as quickly as possible ...We have experienced rebirth of a son.
Noam Shalit thanks the public for their support and activists.
He also thanks the army and police, the prime minister, the ministry of defence.
For us also, this deal is not easy ...Yesterday we stood in court in front of many bereaved families who we stand in solidarity with ....we understand their pain.
He adds that the deal will allow his family to return to a normal life. He says Gilad was surprised. "He came out of some sort of dark cellar to such a commotion."
His son had limited access to television and radio in captivity, he adds. He says Gilad has not told him much but in the early years the conditions were "very bad ...he was badly treated" but latterly they improved.
Good evening. This is Ben Quinn taking over the blog.
Here is footage of Shalit arriving earlier today at the "Tel-Nof" IAF base, where he was embraced by Benjamin Netanyahu.
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Members of London's Jewish community are holding a rally this evening in Hendon, north London, to celebrate Shalit's release, the Press Association reports.
Speaking at the rally will be one of Shalit's cousins, according to the organisers, the Zionist Federation.
A spokesman said: "Although we welcome Gilad home, we must also remember the victims of the terrorists who are being released by Israel as well as the Israeli soldiers who are still missing in action: Zecharya Baumel, Zvi Feldman, Yehuda Katz, Ron Arad, Guy Hever and Majdy Halabi."
Matthew Chance, CNN Senior International Correspondent, has tweeted from Gaza that a parade for the released prisoners has ended and that crowds are beginning to disperse.
An update now on another development away from the scenes in Gaza and Shalit's home this evening.
UN diplomats say the Security Council has agreed on a work schedule which will have the committee considering the Palestinian membership application produce a report by November 11, the Associated Press reports.
It was unclear whether the report would contain a recommendation on membership. One diplomat said that unless there is consensus on the council which remains deeply divided it will just be a summary of different positions.
The diplomats said after a closed-door council meeting Tuesday that committee experts will meet again this week and next week to discuss the criteria for statehood.
The committee will meet at ambassadorial level on Nov. 3 to discuss the experts work, and a report will then be drafted for their consideration on Nov. 11, the diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the talks were private.
My colleague, Chris McGreal, has just filed a piece from Gaza on the reception for released Palestinian prisoners.
You'll be able to read that in full elsewhere on our website a little bit later. Here's a snatch for now:
As the first male prisoners spilled off the buses they were embraced by the Hamas prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh.
At a rally in Gaza city attended by about 300 of the former prisoners and tens of thousands of other people later in the day, Haniyeh praised those who captured Shalit and "started this historic moment for the Palestinian people".
"Our forces are always the winners," he said. "We will never be defeated, we will never be broken".
Families wept as they embraced. Children who had no memories of their fathers were held up to be kissed. But some of the freed prisoners seemed most intent on embracing mothers who wailed with joy.
Amid the celebrations, others were not so lucky. Tayseer Shabair was agonising over how he would break the news to his mother that his brother, Hazem, who is 18 years in to a life sentence for killing Israeli soldiers, was not among those arriving home.
"When the deal was first made they told my mother and my family that Hazem would be released. My mother still believes he will be freed. I don't have the heart to go home and tell her he isn't coming. She is old and she's been preparing everything to receive the son she hasn't seen in seven years," said the 34 year-old shop owner.
But even for the relatives of those Palestinians still held in Israeli jails can draw some comfort from the releases because it raises the prospect of family visits beginning again four years after the Israeli authorities halted them because of Shalit's capture.
Harriet Sherwood, the Guardian's Jerusalem correspondent, has just filed a piece from Shalit's hometown in northern Israel.
The full version will be appear elsewhere very soon the Guardian website. Here's a snatch in the meantime:
In Mizpe Hila – whose name means "aura" in Hebrew — the mood swung between euphoria and anxiety as the wait for the local boy lengthened with the afternoon shadows.
Rumours began to circulate that Shalit had fainted during or following his first helicopter journey; it seemed all too possible for a young man whose long incarceration without natural light was swiftly followed by a flight through the open skies.
There was hushed talk that he was too physically and psychologically frail to undertake the final leg of the journey by helicopter and may even have to be hospitalised. But then word came that doctors had given permission for a second flight, and anticipation began to mount.
"It's a very, very exciting moment," said Ella Hefez, a volunteer with the campaign to secure his release for the past three years.
"We did so many things to bring him home, but in the last few months I lost hope. I want to thank the prime minister for this big, big decision, it wasn't easy."
Despite being "from the left", she said she would vote for Netanyahu at the next election as a way of showing her appreciation."
But Varda Goldblat, a social worker from Tel Aviv and active in the campaign for the past four years, said she was cynical about Netanyahu's motives.
"He is late by five years," she said. Despite his visible fragility, Shalit would recover from his ordeal with the help and support of the community, many in the village said.
This blog is being wrapped up now. You can read a news story summing up today's events here.