Shalit arrives at home in northern Israel
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Xinhua, October 19, 2011
Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier that has been held by Hamas since 2006, arrived at his home in the northern Israeli village of Mitzpe Hila.
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This image from Egypt TV on Oct. 18, 2011 shows Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit in an interview with the Egyptian TV upon his releasing in Rafah border crossing between Egypt and southern Gaza Strip. An Israeli official has met Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit shortly after Hamas handed the Sergeant to the Egyptian side which brokered a prisoner exchange deal, Palestinian and Egyptian sources said Tuesday. [Xinhua] |
After reunited with his family and met with Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu at the Tel Nof Air Base in central Israel, Shalit boarded an army helicopter and went home.
Upon disembarking from the helicopter that flew him to the Tel Nof base, he paused to salute Netanyahu and was greeted with a hug from the prime minister, with Defense Minister Ehud Barak and army chief Benny Gantz standing by to greet the soldier.
Looking thin and pale, Shalit, dressed in a military uniform, was then taken to a room at the base for a first meeting with his parents, Noam and Aviva, who led a massive public campaign for their son's release over the years.
After meeting Shalit, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a press conference Shalit's release from Hamas captivity confronted him with one of the toughest decisions he ever had to make.
"On this day, we are all united in both joy and pain," Netanyahu said.
"Two years and a half ago, I returned to my post as prime minister. One of the main and most complicated missions I found on my desk was to bring Gilad Shalit home alive and well. Today, that mission has been accomplished," Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu said that though the decision to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit was "very very hard," he saw the need to "return home someone whom the State of Israel had sent to the battlefield ... as a leader who daily sends soldiers to defend Israel, I believe that mutual responsibility is not a mere slogan, but a cornerstone of our existence here."
Earlier Tuesday, Israel released 477 of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners as part of a landmark swap deal signed with Islamic group Hamas in Cairo last week.
Some 280 of them were serving multiple life terms for perpetrating lethal attacks that killed upward of a thousand Israeli civilians.
Netanyahu said Tuesday that in a bid to minimize future dangers to Israelis, he insisted that senior Hamas prisoners remain incarcerated, and that the majority of those slated for release be exiled or not allowed to return to the West Bank, two basic demands that Hamas had ultimately conceded to during the course of negotiations on the swap deal.
"I would like to make it clear. We will continue to fight terrorism. Any released terrorist who returns to terrorism, and his blood is upon his head," Netanyahu warned.
Shalit, 25 years old, spent 1,940 days in Hamas captivity in Gaza. The deal for his release entailed the highest price-ever paid by the Jewish state for one person. He is also the first member of the Israeli military to return home alive from captivity in 26 years.
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