(JTA) — Hamas posted a video showing former captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit preparing to be released.
The 38-second video posted to the Internet on Wednesday shows Shalit buttoning a new shirt, tying his shoes and getting out of his chair flanked by Hamas operatives. It also shows photos of other Israelis kidnapped and killed by Hamas and ends with the words, in Arabic, “We started to achieve the goal, and we will reach the end.”
The video was prepared by the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas.
Shalit was the only member of a three-man crew who survived a cross-border, guerrilla-style attack on June 25, 2006 by armed Palestinians who captured him and hid him in Gaza. He was released in a 2011 deal with Hamas in exchange for 1,027 prisoners, many of them convicted terrorists responsible for killing Israelis.
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