The Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, holding an Arabic paper dated Sept. 14, addressed his family from his captivity by Hamas in Gaza in a tape released on Friday.

The Palestinian prisoner Fatima Younis Zaq was greeted by a relative after she was released by Israel on Friday.
Israel obtained the DVD on Friday in a deal brokered by German and Egyptian mediators. In return, Israel released 19 Palestinian women from its jails and was to release a 20th on Sunday. Prison officials said most were near the end of their terms and no longer considered dangerous.

The DVD offered Israel its first glimpse of the young man since June 2006, when he was seized in a cross-border raid by Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups and dragged, injured, into Gaza. Friday’s exchange was the most tangible sign of progress so far in the years of talks on his release, for which Hamas is demanding freedom for up to 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, including many convicted of deadly terrorist acts.

In the short video, Sergeant Shalit, now 23, appears thin but healthy. Cleanshaven, dressed in khaki military-style clothes and sitting against a plain light-colored wall, he holds up a copy of a Hamas-published newspaper dated Sept. 14, 2009.

“Hello, I am Gilad, son of Noam and Aviva Shalit, brother of Hadas and Yoel, who lives in Mitzpe Hila,” Sergeant Shalit says in Hebrew. “My ID number is 300097029.”

Reading from a piece of paper in a voice that breaks at times, he says: “I have been hoping and waiting for the day of my release for a long time. I hope the current government under Benjamin Netanyahu will not waste the chance to finalize a deal, and I will therefore be able to finally have my dream come true and be released.”

The soldier sends his love to his family, and, with an embarrassed half smile, says the military wing of Hamas is treating him “excellently.” He then rises and takes a few paces to show he is physically intact.

Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak were among the senior officials who first saw the video, along with military officials who checked its authenticity. A copy was flown by helicopter to northern Israel, where the Shalit family watched it privately at home. They decided to allow it to be made public, and it was broadcast on all Israeli television channels in the afternoon.

Noam Shalit, the soldier’s father, told reporters outside the home that, despite the initial impression that Gilad was in relatively good condition, the family was deeply worried. “We cannot forget that he has been suffering and rotting in Hamas prison nearly 1,200 unbearably long days and nights,” he said. He added that the family expected “this ordeal to end and for Gilad to return home very soon.”

In a country where 18-year-olds are conscripted for military service, many Israelis feel intimately involved with the case. Activists calling for a deal on Sergeant Shalit’s release have held a constant vigil outside the prime minister’s official residence.

But with memories of bloody Palestinian suicide bombings and attacks still fresh, the price for Sergeant Shalit’s freedom is a subject of fierce debate. Friday’s release was the first since the conservative Mr. Netanyahu came into power in March.

Hamas hailed the deal as a great political achievement. Of the 19 prisoners released, 18 returned to the West Bank and were received by the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, at his headquarters in Ramallah.

But the largest celebration was reserved for Fatima Younis Zaq, the only one from Gaza. Ms. Zaq, who is in her 40s, is affiliated with the extremist group Islamic Jihad. She was arrested in May 2007 at the Erez crossing on her way into Israel, and was still awaiting sentencing for planning a suicide bombing.

Ismail Haniya, the prime minister of the Hamas government in Gaza, and other leaders greeted her as she returned with an infant son who was born in jail, her ninth child. “This is a day of victory for the resistance and steadfastness,” Mr. Haniya said.

Imprisonment is an emotional issue in Palestinian society, and — with some 11,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails — one that has touched almost every family over the decades of Israeli control.

Hamas, possibly with an eye to increasing its popularity in the West Bank before elections expected next year, has recently been projecting a sense of flexibility. Hamas leaders have made upbeat statements about a possible reconciliation with Mr. Abbas and his Fatah party.


Taghreed El-Khodary contributed reporting from Gaza.