Bethlehem - Ma'an - Sitting on a plastic chair in front of a white wall and beneath fluorescent lighting, captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit held a Palestinian newspaper dated 14 September and said he was being treated "excellently."

"I hope that the current administration, headed by [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu, won't waste this opportunity to achieve a deal, and as a result I will finally be able to realize my dream and be released," he said, reading from a script tucked behind the daily Gaza newspaper Filistine.

Shalit spoke in Hebrew and seemed in fine spirits, standing up and walking toward the camera to show he was in good health. He sent his regards to his parents, and added that he loves and misses them.

He said he reads newspapers "in search of information about me."

"I hope to find some kind of information indicating that my release and return home is imminent," he said. "I have been waiting and hoping for a long time for the day that I am released."

The video concluded with Shalit saying, "I want to tell you that I feel well, in terms of health, and that the Mujahideen [fighters] of the Iz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades [Hamas' armed wing] are treating me excellently."

No other figures appeared in the recording, which lasted two minutes and 41 seconds. It can be viewed in its entirety in the following clip from Israel's Channel Two.



Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Shalit family told reporters they had okayed the tape's release. An official was also quoted by Israeli press earlier in the day saying that Shalit looked lucid and in good health.

Netanyahu released a statement after the video's release, saying he believed it was "important because it verifies Gilad Shalit's situation and determines that Hamas is absolutely responsible for his health and wellbeing." In a message to the Shalit family, he warned the soldier's parents that "the path to Gilad's release is still long and arduous."

The release of the tape was part of a deal, negotiated by German intermediaries, that saw the release of 19 female prisoners Friday, with an additional prisoner to be released Sunday, in return for proof that Shalit was still alive and well. The tape was received by Israeli officials early Friday morning, but was then reviewed, sources said, to make sure it was filmed within an acceptable window of time.

Once Israeli officials gave the go-ahead, 18 of the women were released to the West Bank, where they were received in official ceremonies by President Mahmoud Abbas, who vowed "to continue efforts toward releasing every prisoner who has spent decades in Israeli jails."

Speaking at a reception in Ramallah in honor of the former detainees, the president insisted that "the Palestinian leadership has not forgotten 11,000 prisoners who remain in Israeli prisons." Abbas also vowed to stay in touch with the recently released prisoners.

One detainee was released to Gaza, along with her infant child, and was met there by de facto Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, who said the swap was "a victory for the resistance and the Palestinian will," adding that it "opened the door for a respectable deal."

He also praised Egypt and Germany for their roles in wrapping up the deal.

Haniyeh noted that the Islamic movement had handled the exchange in a way that put national interests first, by demanding that women and girls affiliated with various factions be released rather than just Hamas-affiliated prisoners.