Exchanges of prisoners

Exchanges of prisoners are controversial in Israel, some fearing that it encourages activists to remove more hostages or former inmates from committing new attacks, as was seen in the past. The Jewish state wants well as some of the released prisoners do not return to the Gaza Strip. For Palestinians, the release of hundreds of men, women and youth constitute an important victory. It could also lead to an easing of the embargo imposed by Israel and Egypt to the Gaza Strip since the Islamist movement Hamas has taken power by force in June 2007. The blockade significantly impedes the reconstruction of Gaza after the Israeli military offensive in the winter of 2008-2009. A Palestinian source close to the matter, the prisoners could be released in two stages. A first group of 450 would be freed, while Schalit would be handed over to the Egyptians and then transferred to Israel. The others were released a few weeks or months later. AP