JERUSALEM - Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit returned to Israel as the first of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners leave jail in a prisoner exchange deal which was brokered by top Isreali intelligence on 12 October.
Pictures: Channel 4 Sergeant Shalit, who is 25, and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners crossed Israel's borders in opposite directions earlier as part of a historic prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hamas.
He was reunited with his family after five years of captivity in the Gaza Strip. Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners were greeted with kisses and flags in Gaza and the West Bank as they returned from Israeli jails. Hamas leaders greeted the former prisoners piling off buses bearing Red Cross insignia.
Sergeant Shalit was released in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners, the remaining prisoners will be released within the next two months.
Before his flight to his homeland, Gilad Shalit looking gaunt and dis-oriented during an interview with Egyptian TV had only a few words to say: "I missed my family. I hope this deal will promote peace between Israel and Palestinians. He said he only found out a week ago that he would be released.
Once out of the heavily armoured Israeli aircraft, Gilad Shalit was seen saluting Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Then he was with his father and dozens of family members, five years after been kept in an underground dungeon with no light. Eyewitnesses said he felt nauseous and weak on his arrival in Israel and needed oxygen.
Many Israelis are happy that Gilad Shalit has been released , but there is also a deep sense of unease about the decision to free so many Palestinian prisoners convicted of deadly attacks in exchange.
In a speech Mr Binyamin Netanyahu said: "It's still a difficult day, and the price was heavy." He warned released prisoners "who return to terror" that they are "taking their life in their hands".
Sergeant Shalit was abducted in June 2006 by militants who tunnelled into Israel from the Gaza Strip and surprised his tank crew, killing two of his comrades. He has since been held incommunicado and was last seen looking pale and thin in a 2009 video shot by his captors.
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