page_title: Gilad Shalit
section_title: Gilad Shalit prisoner swap deal
hierarchical_section_title: Gilad Shalit / Captivity / Gilad Shalit prisoner swap deal
caption_attribution_description: October 18, 2011 After landing in an IDF base, Gilad Shalit was reunited with his father, Noam.
context_page_description: Gilad Shalit is a former MIA soldier of the Israel Defense Forces who on 25 June 2006, was captured by Palestinian militants in a cross-border raid via tunnels near the Israeli border. Hamas held him captive for over five years, until his release on 18 October 2011 as part of a prisoner exchange deal.
  During his captivity, Hamas turned down requests from the International Committee of the Red Cross to be allowed to visit Shalit, claiming that any such visit could betray his location. Multiple human rights organizations criticized this stance, claiming that the conditions of Shalit's confinement were contrary to international humanitarian law. The Red Cross stated, "The Shalit family have the right under international humanitarian law to be in contact with their son". The only communication in the early months came through an intermediary, who claimed that a low-ranking Hamas official, Ghazi Hamad, asked him to convey to Shalit's parents assurance that Shalit was "alive and was treated according to Islam's laws regarding prisoners of war, in other words, he had been given shelter, food and medical care."
context_section_description: Five years and four months after Shalit was captured by Palestinian militants in southern Israel, a deal was reached between Israel and Hamas to release Shalit in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian and Israeli Arab prisoners. The deal was brokered by German and Egyptian mediators and signed in Egypt on 11 October 2011. Its first phase was executed on 18 October, with Israel releasing 450 Palestinian prisoners and Hamas transferring Shalit to Cairo.
caption: Shalit meets his father after five years in captivity, 18 October 2011
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