(Image Source: Flickr / Tom Spender)

BY JIM FLINK

A highly celebrated -- and controversial -- prisoner exchange is scheduled for Wednesday.
Hamas has agreed to release Israeli soldier Gilat Shalit.  In exchange, Israel will release more than a thousand prisoners -- many of them women and under-age prisoners.

Al Jazeera has details of Shalit’s capture and captivity.

“At age 19, Schalit was taken by Palestinian’s fighters from Gaza in a daring cross-border raid. Two other soliders were killed and Schalit was taken into Gaza through an underground tunnel. Held for more than five years in secret locations, he was taken by an armed group, thus was not regarded a prisoner or war. As a result, there was no access to Shalit.”

The Israeli newspaper, Ha’aretz notes, for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel in general -- this is an historic agreement.

“It has often been said that Netanyahu is a man of words and speeches, but not actions. This time he demonstrated true leadership. He decided on a course of action, for better or for worse, and, yes, the first part is better, the second might be worse. But in any case, as Israelis like to say, Netanyahu ‘acted like a man.’”
 

It has been 26 years since Israeli Defense Forces participated in such an exchange. The blog GazaMom notes, it’s a deal in which both sides can claim victory.
 

“Tactically, this deal was one both Hamas, and Netanyahu, badly needed. It was Hamas’s power play answer to Abbas’s UN statehood bid, though Hamas’s (Kahmed) Meshal emphasized in a televised speech earlier today that this was not a factional, but a national, accomplishment.”

While many in Israel are celebrating Schalit’s release, TIME reports, one Israeli cabinet official calls this a victory for terrorists.

“Most Israelis support the deal, but alongside the spontaneous celebration by overjoyed Israelis eager to see the return of Sgt. Gilad Schalit, there is also a growing sense of concern that the release of convicted Palestinian killers could lead to a new round of violence against the Jewish state.”

Al Arabiya notes, some in Gaza are also concerned.

“(Ahmad) Saadat was convicted of planning the assassination of an Israeli Cabinet minister in 2001. (Marwan) Barghouti was the top local commander of Fatah when he was arrested in 2002 and convicted of a role in deadly attacks against Israelis. He is serving multiple life terms but is widely touted as a future Palestinian president.”

The Jersusalem Post also reports, Defense Minister Ehud Barak is asking for a review of prisoner exchange policies, once Schalit is home safe and sound.