TEL NOF AIR BASE, Israel (AP) – Looking thin, weary and dazed, an Israeli soldier returned home Tuesday from more than five years of captivity in the Gaza Strip in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners whose joyful families greeted them with massive celebrations. 
 
 Sgt. Gilad Shalit, in a brief but controversial interview with Egyptian TV before being transferred to Israel, said he was "very excited to taste freedom and had missed his family and friends." He said he feared he would remain in captivity "many more years" and worried since being told of the deal last week that last-minute hitches might cause it to collapse. 
 
 "Of course I missed my family. I missed friends, meeting people to talk to people, and not to sit all day, to do the same things," he said. 
 
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 In a press conference at the Tel Nof airbase in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greeted Gilad Shalit with "Shalom Gilad. Welcome back to Israel. How good to have you back home," the BBC reports. 
 
 Shalit was later flown to his home in Mitzpe Hila, in the north of Israel, where thousands were waiting to welcome him. According to the BBC, Shalit told his grandfather that he is really tired and wants to sleep. 
 
 Shalit's father told reporters outside the family's home in Mitzpe Hila that his son will need time to recover from psychological and physical wounds after five years in Hamas captivity. Shalit's father also said his son is still suffering from shrapnel wounds he suffered during his 2006 abduction by Hamas militants. He says his son is struggling with all the attention after spending the last few years in "isolation." 
 
 In Gaza, tens of thousands of flag-waving Palestinians celebrated the homecoming Tuesday of hundreds of prisoners swapped for an Israeli soldier, as political leaders jockeyed for credit for the most significant prisoner release by Israel in nearly three decades. 
 
 In Gaza City, a large crowd crammed into a sandy lot, where a huge stage was set up, decorated with a mural depicting Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit's capture in a June 2006 at an army base near the Gaza border. Thousands hoisted green Hamas flags. 
 
 Many in the crowd were overcome with joy. 
 
 Azhar Abu Jawad, 30, celebrated the return of a brother who had been sentenced to life for killing an Israeli in 1992. She said she last saw him eight years ago, before Israel banned visits by Gazans. 
 
 "My happiness is indescribable," she said. "We'll get him a bride and everything. I just spoke to him. He's so happy. This is a reminder, God doesn't forget anyone." 
 
 In the West Bank, released prisoners were taken to the grave of iconic Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas greeted them, and several thousand people filled the courtyard outside his headquarters to celebrate. 
 
 Abbas addressed jubilant crowds from his compound, Ma'an News Agency reports: "We pray that God enables us to see the rest of our sisters and brothers freed in this yard. Your sacrifices, and efforts and work were not in vain. You worked and struggled and sacrificed. You will see the results of your sacrifices in the independent Palestinian state." 
 
 Israeli Sgt. Gilad Shalit was kidnapped in June 2006 by Hamas militants and held captive in the Gaza strip. The most recent video message shows the soldier in September 2009, saying he had been "waiting and yearning" a long time for his release, according to a BBC translation. 
 
 Last week, Israel and the Palestinian organization Hamas reached an agreement on Shalit's release, exchanging over a thousand Palestinian prisoners for the soldier. Israel released 477 Palestinian prisoners on Tuesday. 550 other Palestinians will be freed in the next two months. The majority of those released today will return to the Gaza Strip. Some 30 of them will be deported to countries such as Jordan, Turkey and Qatar. About a hundred will go to the West Bank. The deal is perceived as an important political victory for Hamas, despite the fact that the organization was unable to include the release of prominent Palestinian Marwan Barghouti in the negotiations. 
 
 The deal that arranged for Shalit's release sparked controversy in Israel, as the list of Palestinians who will be released includes some convicted of killing Israelis in the past. According to the Associated Press, the deal was the most lopsided prisoner swap in Israel's history. Families of terror victims petitioned against the deal before the Israeli High Court on Monday, hoping to delay the prisoners' swap. 
 
 Last week, 27-year-old Shvuel Schijvenschuurder, whose parents and siblings were killed in a suicide bombing, defaced a memorial for former president Rabin to protest the agreement. 
 
 However, according to Haaretz, Israeli president Shimon Peres said in a meeting with the victims' families on Monday that he understood the families' pain, yet that it was his duty to save Shalit's life. 
 
 In his press conference at Tel Nof airbase, Netanyahu reiterated this sentiment. "Today is a happy day and a sad day for Israel. When I returned to the position of Prime Minister in 2009, I had a important task waiting for me: to return our soldier Gilad Shalit home," he said, according to Haaretz. 
 
 Netanyahu also issued a staunch warning to the freed Palestinian militants. "We will continue to fight terror and every released terrorist who returns to terror will be held accountable," he said. 
 
 Those concerns were underscored with comments by one of the freed prisoners, Hamas militant leader Yehia Sinwar, who called on the movement to kidnap more soldiers. 
 
 In the video above, watch footage of Gilad Shalit posted by the Israel Defense Forces. 
 
 Below, Netanyahu's address: ||||| In this photo released by the Israeli Defense Ministry, released Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit, second right, walks with his father Noam, right, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, second left, and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, left, at the Tel Nof Air base in southern Israel, Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011. / HO, Ariel Hermoni,AP Photo/ Defense Ministry 
 
 In this photo released by the Israeli Defense Ministry, released Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit, second right, walks with his father Noam, right, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, second left, and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, left, at the Tel Nof Air base in southern Israel, Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011. / HO, Ariel Hermoni,AP Photo/ Defense Ministry 
 
 Updated 2:45 PM EST 
 
 MITZPE HILA, Israel - The father of the Israeli soldier freed in a swap for Palestinian prisoners said his son will need time to recover from psychological and physical wounds after five years in Hamas captivity. 
 
 But he said the family of Gilad Schalit hopes the young man will lead a normal life. 
 
 Noam Schalit spoke to reporters outside the family home in the Israeli town of Mitzpe Hila. 
 
 Schalit said his son is still suffering from shrapnel wounds he suffered during his 2006 abduction by Hamas militants. He said his son is struggling with all the attention after spending the last few years in "isolation." 
 
 "Naturally he can't be exposed to so many people because he was in isolation so many days and years and couldn't interact with people in his language, and all he could do was communicate with his abductors and guards," Noam Schalit said. 
 
 He said his son hadn't said much about his captivity, only that his treatment was poor at the beginning but improved in recent years. 
 
 Looking thin, weary and dazed, Gilad Schalit had earlier emerged from more than five years in Hamas captivity on Tuesday, surrounded by Gaza militants with black face masks and green headbands who handed him over to Egyptian mediators in an exchange for 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. After a medical examination, Israeli officials said Schalit showed signs of malnutrition. 
 
 Mass rallies celebrate freed Palestinians 
 
 Netanyahu issues warning to freed Palestinians 
 
 Before he was flown to an Israel air base where he reunited with his parents, Schalit spoke to Egyptian TV in an interview Israeli officials later called "shocking." The gaunt, sallow and uncomfortable looking Schalit appeared to struggle to speak at times, and his breathing was noticeably labored as he awkwardly answered questions. 
 
 Still he said he felt good and was "very excited" to be going free. But the circumstances of his release, along with the awkward TV interview, raised questions about the conditions the 25-year-old had endured. 
 
 After a tumultuous day that included a reception with the prime minister and an emotional reunion with his family, Schalit touched down in his hometown of Mitzpe Hila in northern Israel late Tuesday on board a military helicopter. 
 
 Thousands of people jammed the streets and stood on rooftops to celebrate Schalit's return. The ecstatic crowd sang songs, waved Israeli flags, popped champagne bottles, embraced and cheered him on. A smiling Schalit -- the first Israeli soldier returned home alive in 26 years -- briefly waved to the crowd before ducking into his family's house. Police blocked access to the street to give the family privacy. 
 
 The White House welcomed the release of Schalit. 
 
 Spokesman Jay Carney said President Barack Obama has long called for Schalit's release and is pleased that he's been reunited with this family. 
 
 Schalit, who had not been seen in public since his capture, was whisked across Gaza's border into Egypt early in the morning by armed Hamas militants in an SUV, setting the swap into motion. 
 
 Wearing a black baseball hat and gray shirt, he was seen for the first time emerging from a pickup truck and turned over to Egyptian mediators by a gang of top Hamas militants, some with their faces covered in black masks with the green headband of the Qassam brigades -- Hamas' military wing. Among those around Schalit in those first moments was Ahmed Jabari, the shadowy head of Hamas' militant wing, one of Israel's most wanted militants. 
 
 Schalit, still escorted by Hamas gunmen, was then taken to a border crossing, where an Egyptian TV crew waited to interview him before he was finally sent into Israel. 
 
 Stumbling over his words, he spoke in the interview of missing his family and friends, said he feared he would remain in captivity "many more years" and worried that the deal might fall through after learning about it last week. 
 
 "Of course I missed my family. I missed friends, meeting people to talk to people, and not to sit all day, to do the same things," he said. 
 
 In one picture taken of the interview, a Hamas gunman with black face mask and green headband of the Hamas military brigade could be seen lurking in the background. 
 
 Israeli officials reacted angrily to the interview, saying it was inappropriate to force Schalit to answer questions in such difficult circumstances. But the interviewer, Shahira Amin, said he had not been coerced. 
 
 Later, video released by the Israeli military showed the weak Schalit being helped into an army jeep after crossing the border into Israel, and walking gingerly down some steps as he exited a military caravan after changing into a fresh army uniform. Military officials said a physical exam had found him to be in "good" condition, though he showed signs of malnutrition and lack of exposure to the sun. 
 
 Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit (C) and his father Noam (L) arrive near their home town following Gilad's release after over five years of captivity by Gaza-based militant groups, following a landmark deal with Hamas, on October 18, 2011. / Getty Images 
 
 Schalit was then flown to an air base in central Israel, where he was hugged by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel's military chief, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, and reunited with his family. Video footage showed Schalit's father, Noam, hugging and kissing his son, before saying "come see your mother" and leading him away for a family reunion. 
 
 Speaking afterward, Netanyahu said he understood the pain of Israeli families who lost relatives in Palestinian violence, but that Israel's ethos of doing everything possible to bring its soldiers home safely forced him to act. 
 
 He also issued a staunch warning to the freed militants. 
 
 "We will continue to fight terror and every released terrorist who returns to terror will be held accountable," he said. 
 
 More than 450 Palestinians were transferred from Israeli prisons to the West Bank and Gaza, where massive celebratory rallies festooned with green Hamas flags were held. In Gaza City, tens of thousands crammed into an open lot where a huge stage was set up, decorated with a mural depicting Schalit's capture in a June 2006 raid on an army base near the Gaza border. The crowd exhorted militants to seize more soldiers for future swaps. 
 
 The rest of the prisoners -- about 550 more -- are to be released in a second phase in two months. 
 
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 next ||||| Story highlights Israel is freeing 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit 
 
 Hamas later handed Shalit to Egyptian forces, he later crossed into Israel 
 
 Deal enjoys support in Israel, but there is debate about number of Palestinians being freed 
 
 Palestinians welcome prospect of so many prisoners being released 
 
 Israel is freeing more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, including hundreds serving life sentences for attacks on Israelis, in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who was captured by Hamas in 2006. How and why has the controversial deal come about? 
 
 Why is Shalit considered important enough by the Israelis to be exchanged for so many Palestinian prisoners? 
 
 Militants captured the young sergeant in June 2006 after tunneling into the Jewish state and attacking an Israeli army outpost. Israel immediately launched a military incursion into Gaza to rescue Shalit, then 19, but failed to free him. 
 
 As the Israeli attacks continued, the Palestinians death toll steadily grew -- hundreds killed, many militants, but also, according to Palestinian sources, innocent men women and children. 
 
 Shalit's captors, affiliated with the Islamic Hamas government, demanded a prisoner swap, but the Israeli government said no -- at least in public. 
 
 Until Tuesday, when Shalit was freed and returned to Israel, he was held incommunicado by Hamas, which controls Gaza. 
 
 Efforts to free him became a rallying cry for thousands of Israelis who urged the government to secure his release. Shalit's supporters feared that if a deal was not reached, his fate could have become similar to that of Israeli Air Force Navigator Ron Arad, who crashed his warplane in Lebanon 25 years ago. He was captured by a local Shiite Amal militia and later handed over to Hezbollah, Shiite militants strongly influenced by Iran and now in de facto control of Lebanon. 
 
 Despite reported attempts to negotiate his return, Israel failed to free Arad and the trail went cold. Over the years he became a symbol of the failure of successive Israeli governments to strike a deal that would bring him back alive. In June 2008 Hezbollah announced Arad was dead. 
 
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 Who are the Palestinians being freed by Israel? 
 
 Israel Monday announced it would release 1,027 prisoners and it identified the first 477 to be freed Tuesday. The group includes two prominent female prisoners: Ahlam Tamimi, serving life terms for being an accomplice in the 2001 bombing of a Sbarro pizza restaurant that killed 15 people; and Amneh Muna, who plotted the killing of a 16-year-old Israeli boy in 2001 and received a life sentence. Twenty-five other women will also be freed. 
 
 The most notable name not on the list is that of jailed Palestinian lawmaker Marwan Barghouti, who is serving five life sentences for murder and other charges related to his role in planning attacks on Israelis during the second Intifada. 
 
 He had been considered by many Palestinians the most important prisoner who might have been released in exchange for Shalit. 
 
 How is the handover taking place? 
 
 The first swap took place Tuesday, with a second stage scheduled for later this year. Israel freed 477 Palestinian inmates from Israeli jails shortly before Shalit was released, the first group of a batch of more than 1,000 Palestinians being swapped for Shalit's freedom. 
 
 Freed prisoners praised Egypt's role as a mediator in interviews on Palestinian television after they were released. 
 
 Some are being sent to the West Bank and others to Gaza, while just under half are being sent abroad. A handful are going to homes in Jerusalem, elsewhere in Israel or to Jordan. 
 
 Once freed, they will be under various restrictions on a case-by-case basis: Some will not be allowed to leave the country, while others will have restrictions on their movement or be required to report their whereabouts to local police according to Justice Ministry spokesman Moshe Cohen. 
 
 Hamas later handed Shalit over to Egyptian security forces, and he later crossed into Israel. Egyptian television showed a short clip of Shalit walking unaided with an escort of about half a dozen people soon after his release was announced. He looked thin and dazed, wearing a dark baseball cap and collared shirt. 
 
 Shalit will undergo medical tests and debriefing at an air force base, the Israeli military said. Once that is complete, he will be flown to his home at Mitzpe Hila, north of Haifa. 
 
 Why is this happening now? 
 
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 Speaking to his Cabinet this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that with so much change sweeping the region, he did not know whether a better deal for Shalit was possible, and warned that he didn't act during this window of opportunity, it could close indefinitely. 
 
 It represented a vast change in outlook and rhetoric for the combative prime minister, who seems to have calculated that a softer approach was the more politically expedient road to follow. 
 
 Whether it was the prospect of going down in history as the Israeli leader who missed the chance to free Shalit, the calculation of larger geopolitical changes in the region, or a mere reflection of public sentiment, Netanyahu has chosen a path that has taken him away from much of what he has spent decades preaching. 
 
 The Hamas rulers of Gaza also felt pressure to make the deal now. The rival Palestinian Authority that governs parts of the West Bank is enjoying increased popularity following its recent United Nations bid for recognition of an independent state and a large scale prisoner release was seen by many in Hamas as a way of seizing back the political initiative. Hamas is also contemplating moving its headquarters out of Damascus and concluding the Shalit deal would make it easier to negotiate a possible relocation to Cairo with the post-Mubarak Egyptian government. 
 
 What is the reaction in Israel and the Palestinian territories? 
 
 The deal to free Shalit was backed by a commanding Israeli Cabinet majority of 26-3 and enjoys wide support from the Israeli public, but there was extensive debate about whether so many Palestinian prisoners should be freed. 
 
 Families of victims of terror, as well as some members of the Israeli government, have expressed fierce opposition to the deal. One minister who voted against the agreement called it "a great victory for terrorism," and there are fears that the release of convicted murderers will lead to further attacks on Israeli civilians -- a fear that, critics say, is borne out by statistics. According to the Israeli association of terror victims, Almagor, 180 Israelis have lost their lives to terrorists freed in previous deals since 2000. 
 
 For Palestinians the issue of prisoners in Israeli prisons cuts deep. For several decades human rights groups estimate that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have spent time in Israeli prisons for a wide range of alleged crimes. In many cases Palestinians face incarceration without any formal charges, and children under the age of 18 are frequently detained for offenses like rock-throwing. Most Palestinians see these inmates and those convicted of violent crimes against Israeli citizens as political prisoners detained within the course of an ongoing liberation struggle. 
 
 Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza welcomed the prospect of so many prisoners being released but there are reservations about the conditions requiring many of them to be exiled from their homeland. 
 
 One Palestinian in Ramallah told CNN, "If I was a prisoner and I am released, I need to go to my family, my country, to my city. Why send me to Turkey or Venezuela whatever -- why?" 
 
 How will this affect the peace process? 
 
 Israelis are equally split on whether "the release of terrorists" will harm Israeli security, with 50% saying Yes and 48% saying No -- a statistical deadlock given the margin of error for the number of people polled. 
 
 One expert, Ronald W. Zweig, the Taub Professor of Israel Studies at New York University, said the deal showed that both sides had made concessions. "And that is a sign of hope." 
 
 "Pessimists will point to the dangers of rewarding terror -- both the terror of those released from jail and the act of kidnapping Israelis to have future terrorists released. Cynics will ask if Israel's willingness to conclude the deal was not an attempt to punish (Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud) Abbas for pushing ahead with his policies in the U.N., despite Israeli and American opposition," Zweig wrote in a recent commentary for CNN 
 
 "But there are other considerations which give grounds for optimism. Any movement in the stalled peace process might be enough to get the wheels of this heavy cart out of the rut in which it is trapped. It appears that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had a role in the final deal, perhaps indicating a return of Turkey to constructive dealing with Israel. And the fact that Israel and Hamas have talked -- albeit indirectly -- is a welcome development. Israel's 2005 withdrawal from Gaza might have had more positive long-term effect had this channel of communication been used then. 
 
 "Even more significant, the release of these prisoners removes a major obstacle from any future peace settlement between Israel and the Palestinians."
– Israel soldier Gilad Shalit is home and “happy,” but he’s still recovering from five years’ imprisonment, his father says. “In isolation,” Gilad “had no connection with his people, with his own language,” Noam Shalit told members of the media, including the Jerusalem Post. Lack of sunlight and mistreatment in captivity have contributed to health problems, Shalit said, though he noted that prison conditions improved over the years. Before Gilad’s release, he was interviewed by Egyptian TV, and speaking seemed difficult for him, CBS News notes. Media attention has been difficult for Gilad, his father said. “Naturally he can't be exposed to so many people because he was in isolation so many days and years.” Noam Shalit thanked supporters and acknowledged “the price we are paying for Gilad’s release,” an exchange of some 1,027 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. One freed prisoner said Palestinians should kidnap "another Shalit" every year until all Palestinians are released, notes the New York Times. For video of the release and homecoming, click here.