The release of Gilad Shalit, the Israel army corporal kidnapped in 2006 by the Palestinian organisation Hamas, is now said to be a matter of weeks away. Mahmoud al-Sahar, the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, made the statement during an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel.
On Friday, Israel released 20 Palestinian women in exchange for a recent video recording of Mr Shalit. The video showed the soldier in apparent good health, reading a recent newspaper.
The father of the kidnapped soldier said he is worried that talks between the Israeli government and Hamas will last for years. But Mr Al-Sahar thinks Mr Shalit will be released in, at most, a few months.
Although negotiations for his release had stalled recently, they were reinvigorated after mediation by German and Egyptian diplomats.
Photo of Gilad Shalit by Doug20022 (flickr)
Photo by Doug20022 (flickr)
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