:00:17. > :00:24.You're watching GMT on BBC World news. We've seen Binyamin Netanyahu,
:00:24. > :00:30.the Israel leader speaking, about the release of Gilad Shalit, the
:00:30. > :00:36.Israeli prisoner, who has been released in scaiping for 1,000
:00:36. > :00:42.Palestinian prisoners. -- exchange. Welcome to this
:00:42. > :00:48.special edition of GMT. I'm Naga Munchetty. We welcome our viewers
:00:48. > :00:54.in the UK toe our extended coverage of events in the Middle East, where
:00:54. > :00:58.Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit has been released from Hamas captivity
:00:58. > :01:01.and reunited with his family. And I'm Geeta Guru-Murthy. The
:01:01. > :01:04.Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit has been released and is now on Israeli
:01:04. > :01:06.soil. He'd been held captive in Gaza for more than five years. His
:01:06. > :01:10.release is in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.
:01:10. > :01:20.TransI always believed that the day will come when I will find myself
:01:20. > :01:39.
:01:39. > :01:43.It's lunchtime in London, 7.30am in New York and 1.30pm in the
:01:43. > :01:47.Palestinian territories and Israel, and this is where Gilad Shalit, the
:01:48. > :01:53.young soldier kidnapped by Hamas in a cross-border raid five years ago
:01:53. > :01:56.has just made his way home. He was released in exchange for more than
:01:56. > :02:01.a thousand Palestinian prisoners. The first few hundred of those have
:02:01. > :02:06.already been welcomed back do Gaza and ram la. We'll bring you full
:02:06. > :02:11.story of this remarkable day. We'll be live at the Israeli air base,
:02:11. > :02:21.but first this report from Rupert Wingfield-Hayes.
:02:21. > :02:22.
:02:22. > :02:26.This fleeting glimps the first the outside world has seen of Shalit in
:02:26. > :02:31.more than five years. The young Israeli soldier looks tired and
:02:31. > :02:36.thin and had trouble speaking. Obviously I missed my family a lot
:02:36. > :02:40.and my friends, and I missed might normal people to talk to, to tell
:02:40. > :02:45.them about my experiences through captive. Very a lot to do when I'm
:02:45. > :02:52.free. In Gaza City huge crowds gathered from early this morning to
:02:52. > :02:57.welcome back the Palestinian prisoners. Buses loaded with some
:02:57. > :03:00.of the 477 Palestinians wait for the swap to begin. Some of these
:03:00. > :03:07.prisoners were serving multiple life sentences, convicted of taking
:03:07. > :03:13.part in murders and bombings of civilian targets inside Israel.
:03:13. > :03:17.Some now will be allowed to stay in Gaza. But a few, those Israel
:03:17. > :03:21.considers most dangerous, are being sent into exile A village in the
:03:21. > :03:27.far north of Israel Gilad Shalit's family are told it is time to go.
:03:27. > :03:32.Finally they are on their way to meet their son. This is what we've
:03:32. > :03:37.all been waiting for today, this is the helicopter carrying Gilad
:03:37. > :03:41.Shalit back from the Egyptian border back to be reunited with his
:03:41. > :03:46.family at the Tel Nof air base. That will end a five-year trauma
:03:46. > :03:52.for him and his family, and close an open wound for millions of
:03:52. > :03:56.Israelis who send their sons and daughters to the military and live
:03:56. > :04:02.in fear of something similar happening to them Gaza there is
:04:02. > :04:07.real joy at the return of hundreds of men and a few women who've spent
:04:07. > :04:17.years or decades in Israeli prisons. Their release will not bring an end
:04:17. > :04:22.
:04:22. > :04:29.to that conflict which has gone on for more than 60 years.
:04:29. > :04:33.Let's speak now to Arnold Roth, whose 15-year-old daughter Malka
:04:33. > :04:37.was killed ten years ago, when a pizzeria was blown up in Jerusalem.
:04:37. > :04:42.The woman who drove the bomb tore the location is being released
:04:42. > :04:48.today. Of course, this is going to spark high emotions among this
:04:48. > :04:54.gentleman, Arnold Roth will be speaking to us from our Jerusalem
:04:54. > :04:59.studio. Can you hear me? Yes, I can, thank you. Thank you for joining me
:04:59. > :05:03.today. This is a highly emotional day for you, I imagine. How do you
:05:03. > :05:07.and your family feel today about the events? There's a considerable
:05:07. > :05:10.amount of emotional turmoil watching the prisoners go free, and
:05:10. > :05:15.in particular knowing that our daughter's murderer, who was
:05:15. > :05:20.sentenced to 16 life terms and has been in jail for 8 years saying the
:05:20. > :05:25.whole time she is going to go free is going to go free today. She's
:05:25. > :05:29.never regretted anything she did, so the feeling today is awful.
:05:29. > :05:34.heard Binyamin Netanyahu justifying and explaining the process of this
:05:34. > :05:38.deal and how he arrived at the conclusion that this is a
:05:38. > :05:43.reasonable deal - 1 Israeli soldier for 1,000 Palestinians. Have you
:05:43. > :05:47.heard his reasoning? Yes, I have heard the reasoning before and I
:05:47. > :05:51.think you would probably have to be a politician to be able to come to
:05:51. > :05:56.terms with that kind of reasoning. I remember a book on the art of how
:05:56. > :06:00.you manage government in the face of terrorism. The conclusion that
:06:00. > :06:04.books reachs are the opposite of what Mr Binyamin Netanyahu has been
:06:04. > :06:08.speaking about. He wrote that book. If you are not a politician and are
:06:08. > :06:12.simply the father of children, as I am, and one of your children has
:06:12. > :06:16.been murdered, blown up in an act of hatred, you look at this
:06:16. > :06:21.differently. I'm sitting here not because I expect to get my daughter
:06:21. > :06:26.back, and not because I'm emotional, but because having experienced this
:06:26. > :06:31.I'm sufficiently motivated, as is my wife, so get up and say, "Ladies
:06:31. > :06:34.and gentlemen, this was never about one soldier alone, it was something
:06:35. > :06:37.much larger, which involve it is our entire society." If the Prime
:06:37. > :06:40.Minister thinks we are better off now, that is something that would
:06:40. > :06:45.be worth discussing. No-one from the Government has discussed
:06:45. > :06:51.anything with us, or anyone else I know, throughout this process.
:06:51. > :06:54.Roth, can I ask you how you feel seeing the pictures of the
:06:54. > :06:58.celebrations that have been taking place, with the Palestinian
:06:58. > :07:04.prisoners being released? Do you think that's a really inappropriate
:07:05. > :07:07.reaction or is it just human emotion? It goes well beyond
:07:07. > :07:12.inappropriate, but the real question is whether the
:07:12. > :07:17.appropriateness is inappropriate to the centre of London or some other
:07:17. > :07:24.civilised place, or to the context in which it was happening. When
:07:24. > :07:30.high daughter was murdered in 2001 we were sent pictures of men
:07:30. > :07:34.dancing on the streets of many capitals can. And then we saw a
:07:34. > :07:39.replica of the restaurant where my daughter was killed, complete with
:07:39. > :07:42.tomato sauce on the walls and body parts made out of I don't know what.
:07:42. > :07:47.Inappropriate is not really part of our lexicon. It is clear we are
:07:47. > :07:52.dealing with a profound hatred which scact rises terrorism
:07:52. > :07:56.wherever it o curse, and there is no point in expecting civilised
:07:56. > :08:03.behaviour or even behaviour that the rest of us can understand.
:08:03. > :08:06.Arnold Roth, thank you. Earlier we got a sense of the
:08:06. > :08:12.celebrations under way in Gaza and also of the mixed feelings in
:08:12. > :08:16.Israel, following the release of Gilad Shalit. Israelis who are
:08:16. > :08:26.opposed to the exchange pointed out the background of some of the
:08:26. > :08:35.
:08:35. > :08:40.Palestinian prisoners released One of the 27 women freed, a former
:08:40. > :08:44.TV journalist, drove a suicide bomber to a restaurant, part of an
:08:44. > :08:49.attack which killed 15 people. Walid Abdel Hadi Aqel was charged
:08:49. > :08:53.with murder and other offences for with murder and other offences for
:08:53. > :08:56.which he was serving 16 life innocences. We are joined by the
:08:56. > :09:04.Israeli ambassador to the UK, Daniel Taub. Thank you for joining
:09:04. > :09:08.us. Not at all. Why has Israel agreed this release? It's been, as
:09:08. > :09:12.the Prime Minister said, an agonising decision, a decision
:09:13. > :09:16.that's accompanied us over five years and four months since Gilad
:09:16. > :09:19.Shalit was taken into captivity. One of the reasons it is so painful
:09:19. > :09:23.is precisely what you've been talking about, the fact that the
:09:23. > :09:28.people going free are people who are responsible for some absolutely
:09:28. > :09:34.brutal atrocities. They are going into if arms of people who are
:09:34. > :09:38.welcoming them as heroes. In Arabic I heard the chants, "We want
:09:39. > :09:43.another Gilad Shalit.". Is this should not just political gain for
:09:43. > :09:47.the Government? I don't think it's a political decision at all, but a
:09:47. > :09:51.human decision. On the other side toef equation, pretty much everyone
:09:51. > :09:54.in Israel has been touched bay terrorist atrocity, friends and
:09:54. > :09:58.family and so on, we have a society where sadly everybody is also
:09:58. > :10:03.touched by the need to serve in the armed forces. The fact is the only
:10:03. > :10:05.thing between these terrorists and our homes and our children are our
:10:05. > :10:10.young men and women who have to defend ourselves. The message that
:10:10. > :10:14.we send, that we will do everything possible to bring these people home,
:10:14. > :10:17.is an extremely important message for the young people in Israel to
:10:17. > :10:23.hear. How you strike to balance between sending that message
:10:23. > :10:27.between doing everything you can to fulfil your commitment to those
:10:27. > :10:33.young people but not endanger future potential victim victims of
:10:33. > :10:39.terrorist attacks is exscruesiating. Is Israel backed into a corner
:10:39. > :10:43.because of the changing glds the region? Hamas, the reason that
:10:43. > :10:46.Hamas changed its criteria for the deal and became more flexible is
:10:46. > :10:50.because they were really under pressure. The fact is the people of
:10:50. > :10:54.Gaza see their neighbours with the Arab Spring claiming basic rights
:10:54. > :10:59.and freedoms they would like to have for themselves. We see Hamas's
:10:59. > :11:03.popularity was in a down slide. That's the reason why they agreed
:11:03. > :11:08.to terms Israel had been sinnisting on for a number of years and that
:11:08. > :11:14.deal became possible. We heard the leader, Binyamin Netanyahu, talk
:11:14. > :11:18.about Egypt this this deal. How important has that role been?
:11:18. > :11:22.did play a very important role. After different international
:11:22. > :11:26.mediators tried to move this ahead, Egypt, which does have a
:11:26. > :11:30.relationship with Hamas and has concerns about Hamas, was able to
:11:30. > :11:33.put the pieces together. Obviously we would like to to be a
:11:33. > :11:37.springboard for deepening our relations with Egypt. It's a
:11:37. > :11:43.crucial potential partner for news the region. Because things are so
:11:43. > :11:48.much in a state of flux in Egypt we have to hope for the best.
:11:48. > :11:52.power of negotiation going forward between Israel, Hamas and Fatah.
:11:52. > :11:56.That again is another important part of the pulz. Ideally we don't
:11:56. > :12:03.want to give any additional legitimacy to Hamas, which is
:12:03. > :12:07.totally opposed to any peace deal. We have no interest in giving
:12:07. > :12:11.legitimacy to them. If we could, we loo like to strengthen the
:12:11. > :12:15.Palestinian Authority leader, President Abbas, who we like like
:12:15. > :12:19.to join us at the negotiating table. The fact is this is really a
:12:19. > :12:23.demonstration of the fact that as much as President Abbas would like
:12:23. > :12:29.to claim to be the head of what he would like to be a state, large
:12:29. > :12:35.areas in the Gaza Strip are not under Palestinian control but Hamas
:12:35. > :12:39.control. You can tell us more about the security deal that's been done,
:12:39. > :12:42.allegedly? Binyamin Netanyahu is warning that any of the militants
:12:42. > :12:47.freed will be punished if they return to violence. How is that
:12:47. > :12:51.going to be policed? One of the aspects of the deal is that a lot
:12:51. > :12:55.of these releases are not blanket releases but are subject to various
:12:55. > :12:58.conditions. There are some people that are going to remain under
:12:58. > :13:02.various forms of house detention or within particular areas, some are
:13:02. > :13:06.going to be expelled from the area and not allowed back These are the
:13:06. > :13:09.reasons why I think Israel's defence establishment, the Chief of
:13:09. > :13:12.Staff, the head of intelligence, have come out in support of the
:13:12. > :13:19.deal. As difficult as it is, I think that's one of the things that
:13:19. > :13:25.have given the Israeli people... They are 100% sure this deal can be
:13:26. > :13:31.enforced with 100%? The situation we are facing is so complex that we
:13:31. > :13:36.have to made difficult, calculated risks. We have to try to do that
:13:36. > :13:39.where on the one hand we are giving consideration to the genuine
:13:39. > :13:42.security concerns of victims of terrorism and society as a whole,
:13:42. > :13:45.and on the other hand recognising the fact that here is an Israeli
:13:45. > :13:49.young man who at the request of his society went out to defend his
:13:49. > :13:55.country and we have an obligation to try and bring him home. You are
:13:55. > :14:00.talking about trust now between the two parties. Gilad Shalit said
:14:00. > :14:04.during an interview earlier that he wanted all Palestinian prisoners
:14:04. > :14:08.released. I actually heard that interview. What he did say, he
:14:08. > :14:11.would love to see all Palestinian prisoners released if there was a
:14:11. > :14:14.situation where they couldn't revert to terrorism and attack
:14:14. > :14:19.Israel. That's something that reflects the broad feeling of all
:14:19. > :14:24.people in Israel. We don't have any interest in arresting people trying
:14:24. > :14:26.to kills and keep them in prison. We would like to have two
:14:26. > :14:31.prosperous neighbouring societies. Unfortunately that isn't the
:14:31. > :14:36.situation at the moment. At the moment 07% of Israelis are in
:14:36. > :14:41.support of this deal and 30% against. How are you going to
:14:41. > :14:46.reassure them that future imbalanced deals aren't on the
:14:46. > :14:49.cards? I don't think the statistics reflect the complexity of the issue.
:14:49. > :14:53.I think every Israeli is torn about this. I think every Israeli today
:14:53. > :14:57.is thinking on the one hand of their children, of young people
:14:57. > :15:01.they know who are defending the country, and on the other hand
:15:01. > :15:05.thinking of people they know killed in acts of terrorism, and trying
:15:06. > :15:10.too find the most responsible way of moving ahead in this environment.
:15:10. > :15:14.Mr Netanyahu said he feared if a deal wasn't being done they could
:15:14. > :15:21.have lost Gilad Shalit forever. What did he mean by that, do you
:15:21. > :15:24.know? Every Israeli has in the back of their mind and Binyamin
:15:24. > :15:28.Netanyahu said explicitly, we have Israelis captured by organisations
:15:28. > :15:38.in the past who've disappeared from the face of the earth and we have
:15:38. > :15:43.never heard of them again. An Air Force person was lost. One of the
:15:43. > :15:53.shock Hamas techniques was to show a film of Gilad Shalit's face
:15:53. > :15:54.
:15:54. > :15:58.turning into that one, sending a There was massive reaction in the
:15:58. > :16:04.region. Is this not an opportunity for a springboard, for the Israeli
:16:04. > :16:10.government to do something big, to say we will come back to talks. You
:16:10. > :16:15.know we need that to break -- bring Fatah back to the talks. We need to
:16:15. > :16:20.recognise that Hamas as it is is not interested in a peace process.
:16:20. > :16:24.The head of their foreign relations recently said they will only be an
:16:24. > :16:29.end to the conflict when there is an end to the state of Broe Israel,
:16:29. > :16:34.that is not a basis for negotiations. -- state of Israel.
:16:34. > :16:37.We need to do everything we can to try to work with the Palestinian
:16:37. > :16:41.Authority to get them to come back to the negotiating table. But of
:16:41. > :16:46.this is seen as a successful move does that not give you an example
:16:46. > :16:49.to follow and move things forward? I think it shows that Israel has a
:16:49. > :16:52.leadership that is prepared to make tough decisions. It is prepared to
:16:52. > :16:57.try to deliver and the people are prepared to live with tough
:16:57. > :17:02.decisions as well. I hope it sends a message to Palestinians that if
:17:02. > :17:05.they come back to the table they will find a government and people
:17:05. > :17:15.that wants peace and is prepared to move ahead towards that. It has
:17:15. > :17:21.
:17:21. > :17:27.been a remarkable day. Thank you Mahmoud Abbas paid tribute to the
:17:27. > :17:31.prisoners and delivered a special message to Egypt. TRANSLATION: We
:17:31. > :17:38.would like to salute our brothers in Egypt. They have worked
:17:38. > :17:42.tirelessly for the release of our brothers and sisters. We would also
:17:42. > :17:49.like to salute Egypt for its role in the Palestinian reconciliation
:17:49. > :17:55.process. It is a process started by you inside the prisons, you have
:17:55. > :18:03.worked hard for reconciliation and that reconciliation will happen, no
:18:03. > :18:07.matter what. Let's go live and speak to an adviser to the
:18:07. > :18:14.Palestinians Authority president. Thank you for joining us. Your
:18:14. > :18:19.reaction to the deal and Exchange today? Maybe you can hear the noise
:18:19. > :18:22.around me, people are still celebrating in the streets. Behind
:18:23. > :18:26.me is a compound where people are expressing joy not only for the
:18:26. > :18:30.release of the President's -- prisoners but also for the great
:18:30. > :18:34.speeches we heard mainly emphasising the importance of
:18:34. > :18:43.reconciliation and promising the Palestinian people that the
:18:43. > :18:47.existence of people behind it and those working behind it will see
:18:47. > :18:52.the light at the end of the tunnel. Give me your reaction to families
:18:52. > :18:55.in Israel who have had a family members are murdered or victims of
:18:55. > :19:00.violence who see the celebrations, do you understand how this might
:19:00. > :19:07.stick in their throats? celebrations are also underway in
:19:07. > :19:11.Israel. Gilad Shalit has been released and people are celebrating.
:19:11. > :19:18.I no conflict has its claims on people and what we saw over decades
:19:18. > :19:22.of conflict can be ended and ended soon. This is the longest Israeli
:19:22. > :19:26.occupation in a modern time, but it is finished and ended when all the
:19:26. > :19:30.people in Palestine can rest in peace and Israel will be more
:19:30. > :19:33.accepted in the Arab and Muslim worlds in accordance to the Arab
:19:33. > :19:37.initiative. I you confident these prisoners who have been released,
:19:37. > :19:47.those who were responsible for violence will not impose this
:19:47. > :19:51.
:19:51. > :19:58.violence again -- are you Apologies, we appear to have lost
:19:58. > :20:08.our guest. Technical difficulties. If we can get him back, we will.
:20:08. > :20:20.
:20:20. > :20:25.Now to the Tel LAUGH airbase in I'm terribly sorry we have lost the
:20:25. > :20:32.sound there. We know that Gilad Shalit has been reunited with his
:20:32. > :20:35.family. We heard from the Prime Minister that he was delighted to
:20:35. > :20:39.say to the parents of Gilad Shalit I have returned your son home to
:20:39. > :20:45.you. He was fearful that he would have lost him forever if this deal
:20:45. > :20:49.was not done. Gilad Shalit was any 19 when he was abducted in June in
:20:49. > :20:59.2006. He was taken by a joint force of Palestinian militants who
:20:59. > :21:04.
:21:05. > :21:10.tunnelled under the Gaza at Israeli border. The moment Gilad Shalit was
:21:10. > :21:14.captured, he was seized from his tank just over the border from Gaza.
:21:14. > :21:20.Two Israeli soldiers and two Palestinian militants were killed
:21:20. > :21:25.in the raid. That was June 2006. Soon after Israel launched an
:21:25. > :21:29.offensive aimed, it said, at securing Gilad Shalit's release and
:21:29. > :21:35.ending rocket fire from Palestinian militants. 300 Palestinians died in
:21:35. > :21:42.the next few months. And several Israelis. An Israeli blockade was
:21:42. > :21:45.also imposed on Gaza. Gilad Shalit remained in captivity. Across
:21:45. > :21:49.Israel the campaign group for his release. The demand was for the
:21:49. > :21:59.government to do what Israel had done before, to agree an exchange
:21:59. > :22:09.
:22:09. > :22:13.of prisoners. The strength of our army, of our society, our belief
:22:13. > :22:19.that we are not leaving anyone in the field, in prison, or elsewhere,
:22:19. > :22:23.we will do all we can to bring him home. And then in 2009 the first
:22:24. > :22:28.glimpse of staff to Sergeant Shalit for more than 1200 days as Hamas
:22:28. > :22:38.released a video. Their prisoner looked gaunt, but managed a half
:22:38. > :22:42.
:22:42. > :22:47.smile. He says I hope the current government when waste the chance of
:22:47. > :22:51.a deal so I can finally realise my dream. Four Palestinians the issue
:22:51. > :22:57.of prisoners is hugely important. Over 5000 are held in Israeli
:22:57. > :23:03.prisons. Some have been convicted by his records of murder, some have
:23:03. > :23:08.been detained without charge. -- Palestinian society regards
:23:08. > :23:13.prisoners as people who have acted on behalf of society and sacrifice
:23:13. > :23:18.themselves for Palestinian society. The whole society feels indebted to
:23:18. > :23:24.them. The Gilad Shalit's release and is a trauma for Israel, a
:23:24. > :23:30.country where almost every Jewish family as someone in the army. The
:23:30. > :23:36.prisoner swap will also be celebrated by Palestinians. But
:23:36. > :23:42.tensions with Hamas remain high, for the optimism generated by this
:23:42. > :23:47.event, the conflict has not been changed.
:23:47. > :23:51.Let's go live now to the Rafah Crossing. We have seen some
:23:51. > :23:56.incredible scenes in the last two hours. What is happening now?
:23:56. > :24:00.it has been extremely emotional and quite chaotic today as these
:24:00. > :24:04.Palestinian prisoners were brought in from Egypt on buses. Most of
:24:04. > :24:09.them have been transferred now by bus either home to their families,
:24:09. > :24:12.or money will go to Gaza City where a huge rally is being planned by
:24:12. > :24:17.Hamas later today where we could see up to 100,000 people in the
:24:17. > :24:23.main square in Gaza City. Very emotional today, many of the
:24:23. > :24:30.family's meeting their relatives have not seen their husbands, sons,
:24:30. > :24:33.brothers for 10, 20, maybe 30 years. One elderly gentleman pulled me
:24:33. > :24:38.aside, he was waiting for his nephew and he said just remember
:24:38. > :24:44.one thing today - Palestinians have mothers, too, and those mothers
:24:44. > :24:51.today are feeling the same as Gilad Shalit's mother. Any sense thereof
:24:51. > :24:55.worry about where this politically takes us forward? A huge imbalance,
:24:55. > :24:59.some see it, and the numbers of people released. Over 1000 released
:24:59. > :25:07.for the sake of one Israeli soldier. Politically where does that leave
:25:07. > :25:13.us? I think Israel wanted to get their soldier home, we heard in
:25:13. > :25:16.that piece there the importance of the Israeli army and reservists for
:25:16. > :25:20.ordinary Israeli citizens. Most people in Israel have a relative in
:25:20. > :25:26.the army. I think Hamas will make political capital from this. They
:25:26. > :25:31.will portray this as a victory. 1000 visitors for -- prisoners for
:25:31. > :25:34.one man seems in their favour. I think Hamas negotiated this from a
:25:34. > :25:37.vision -- a position of weakness because they were worried about
:25:37. > :25:45.their popularity. They will get a short-term boost from this but they
:25:45. > :25:50.have played their big carp now. One ominous thing we had here was we
:25:50. > :26:00.had prisoners, relatives and Hamas supporters shouting we want a new
:26:00. > :26:01.
:26:01. > :26:06.Gilad Shalit. That would be ominous We have seen momentous scenes there
:26:06. > :26:10.behind you. Things have quietened down a bit but huge numbers of
:26:10. > :26:16.people still gathering in Gaza. Those scenes of celebration are
:26:16. > :26:22.expected to continue long into the day. There have also been seen as
:26:22. > :26:27.of celebration in Israel where the 19 year-old soldier was released.
:26:27. > :26:34.He has arrived back on Israeli soil, he has been reunited with his
:26:34. > :26:39.family. We have had the Israeli leader describing long days of
:26:39. > :26:42.negotiation in Cairo with Hamas saying he did stand their ground
:26:43. > :26:49.but when the main demands of Israel were met and accepted the decision