CAIRO: Israel moved 447 prisoners to a holding facility in the Negev Desert today, preparing for the first stage of the pending Israeli-Palestinian prisoner swap. The first step of this Egyptian-mediated swap is expected to go into effect on Tuesday morning, in which Israeli prisoner Gilad Shalit will be freed in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners. According to the schedule, Hamas will bring Shalit from Gaza to the Sinai Peninsula through the Rafah crossing, and deliver him into the hands of International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Egyptian officials. From there, after a short procedure to confirm his identity, Shalit will be brought into Israeli territory. The group of prisoners transferred earlier today will be transferred Tuesday to the Ofer military camp near Ramallah. Police and Israel Prison Service wardens will wait there for a signal to begin the Shalit handover in the Sinai. Once the signal is received, the prisoners will be released. The first group, whose members are to be released to Gaza or expelled to other countries, will go first to Egypt. A group of female prisoners will be brought to the Beituniya crossing point near Ramallah and handed to the ICRC. Almost half of the 447 prisoners to be released in this first stage of the swap will not be able to return home, but will be exiled without stopping on Palestinian soil. 40 prisoners are to be transferred to third countries, and 163 will be transferred to Gaza. Turkish media said on Friday that Turkey would accept all those exiled abroad. The rest of the 550 prisoners are expected to be released in about two months. Israeli citizens had 48 hours to file any complaint about the names of prisoners set for release. The Israeli High Court met today to discuss a number of petitions from the Israeli public, but it is considered unlikely that the court will intervene in any aspects of Israeli politics. “Unless the Supreme Court intervenes, or someone in Gaza goes nuts, it appears the deal will go through in two days,” Yaakov Amidror, the National Security Adviser for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. BM
