Gilad Shalit freed in Israeli-Palestinian prisoner swap

Cheering crowds have greeted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit as he arrived back in his northern hometown of Mitzpe Hila after five years in captivity in Gaza.

Sgt Shalit was flown by helicopter from an airbase in central Israel after undergoing medical tests.

He was freed after Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas agreed a deal under which more than 1,000 Palestinians would also be released.

Many thousands thronged the streets of Gaza to greet the former prisoners.

Israel freed 477 Palestinians on Tuesday, including people convicted of murder and of planning suicide attacks.

Another 550 jailed Palestinians are to be freed next month under the deal.

Sgt Shalit, 25, was seized in 2006 by Hamas militants who tunnelled into Israel.

Early on Tuesday he was taken to the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, and handed over to Egyptian mediators by Hamas, in the presence of Israeli representatives.

In his first interview, Sgt Shalit told Egyptian TV he missed his friends and family. Looking drawn and pale, he said he hoped the exchange would help bring peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Sgt Shalit was then transferred to the Kerem Shalom crossing between Egypt and Israel.

He made a phone call to his parents and was later flown to Tel Nof airbase, where the family was reunited.

Initial medical examinations found Sgt Shalit to be in a stable condition.

At Tel Nof he was met by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the release was an "exciting moment" but also "very difficult" as the price - the release of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners - had been "heavy, very high".

Mr Netanyahu added: "I want to make it clear: we will continue fighting terrorism."

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she was pleased that Sgt Shalit's "long ordeal" had ended, adding that he had been held for "far too long".

Meanwhile, the former Palestinian prisoners have been arriving back in Gaza and the West Bank.

An estimated 200,000 people gathered in Gaza City to welcome them.

The former prisoners returning to Gaza first crossed by bus into Egypt from Kerem Shalom, before being met at the Rafah crossing by relatives and friends, as well as Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya.

Early on Tuesday, they had left a prison in the south of Israel, while a smaller group left another prison in the centre of the country - both under heavy security.

However, a number of senior Palestinian prisoners have been left out of the deal - which was brokered by Egypt.

Freedom fighters?

The BBC's Jon Donnison in Gaza City says there are thousands of gun-toting masked Hamas militants, clad in black and green, patrolling the streets.

Hamas wants a show of force, but many believe they have now played their trump card by handing over Sgt Shalit, our correspondent says.

About 40 of the Palestinians released on Tuesday will be flown to host countries including Turkey, Syria or Qatar.

Other prisoners have been taken to the West Bank, where they were met by Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas.

Addressing a cheering crowd in Ramallah, Mr Abbas praised the former detainees as "freedom fighters" and said more Palestinian prisoners would eventually be freed.

Sgt Shalit was a 19-year-old tank crewman when he was captured in June 2006. His family lived in a protest tent in Jerusalem for 16 months while they campaigned for his release.

BBC Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen says Israelis who send their children to the country's conscript army have identified strongly with the Shalit family's pain.

However, our correspondent adds, Israel has paid a high price for Sgt Shalit's freedom.

Many of the Palestinians being released were serving life for killing Israelis with bombs and bullets.

Mr Netanyahu wrote a letter, released by his office, to bereaved Israeli families telling them: "I understand the difficulty in accepting that the vile people who committed the heinous crimes against your loved ones will not pay the full price they deserve."