Sgt. Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier who has been imprisoned by Hamas since 2006, was released on Tuesday in Egypt as part of a prisoner trade between Israel and Hamas. In exchange for Shalit's release, Israel freed 477 Palestinian prisoners, the first group of what will be more than 1,000. The deal is seen as a major political victory for Hamas, which Israel considers to be a terrorist organization. "I very much hope that this deal will advance peace," Shalit told Egyptian television before he was released. Many Israelis support the swap, but Arnold Roth, who was on The Takeaway yesterday, does not. Roth lost his daughter in 2001 to a Palestinian suicide bomber. The woman who drove that bomber is one of the 477 set to be released today.

A deal brokered by Egypt between Israel and Hamas to free a thousand Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of an Israeli soldier, Staff Sergeant Gilad Shalit finds all sides benefiting politically. Shalit has been held captive for more than 5 years — making him a powerful symbol of national anguish for Israelis. Not all the details of the deal have been released, but a Hamas spokesmen claims that among the Palestinian prisoners to be released is Marwan Barghouti. Barghouti is a Fatah leader widely viewed as a potential successor to President Mahmoud Abbas.

There is international condemnation against the Syrian government this morning as it carries out an attack against the city of Hama, the symbolic center of the anti-government opposition. The United Nations Security Council, which includes Syrian allies like Russia, issued its first condemnation of the violence. Critics say the statement opens the door to a possible Libya-style intervention. The BBC's Jim Muir reports from Beirut, Lebannon. He says almost no information has come out of Hama this morning.

Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank receive more foreign aid per person than any group of people in the world. The EU and its members alone give around a billion Euros a year to the Palestinian Authority. This is one of the main reasons that the Palestinian economy is growing. However, the unity deal recently signed between Fatah and Hamas could jeopardize all that. The BBC's West Bank correspondent, Jon Donnison reports.

In President Barack Obama's speech on the Middle East Thursday, he addressed the looming issue of peace between Israel and Palestine. President Obama said that the borders of "Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines." This statement drew immediate negative reaction from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is scheduled to meet with President Obama today in Washington, D.C.

The two major Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, the party led by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas have signed a historic accord to form a unity government. Fatah governs the West Bank, while Hamas, an Islamic group, controls the Gaza Strip. The agreement ends a four-year split.  Back in 2007 Hamas pushed out forces loyal to Mahmoud Abbas from Gaza, one year after winning government elections.

The Palestinian Islamist movement, Hamas, are warning people in Gaza and the West Bank to be wary of how they use social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. They say Israel is using the personal information people often post to help recruit collaborators.

The assassination of Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh last month in a Dubai hotel room has been compared to the plot of a cheap spy novel. Bad costumes, security footage, and Interpol all make for a good thread.  

In January, 11 professional assassins wearing fake beards and carrying fake passports killed Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a senior Hamas official in his Dubai hotel.  Both Israel and Palestine have been accused of being involved in the assassination.

 

U.S. Special Envoy for the Middle East George Mitchell is in Jerusalem today for meetings with Israeli leaders. Yesterday he called for "immediate" peace talks between the Israeli and Palestinians. That comes on the back of President Obama’s speech in Cairo last week where he made clear his wish for a two-state solution to the conflict and the end of Israeli settlement building in the West Bank. The BBC's Diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus joins us with his analysis.

Last week the Israeli Prime Minister met with President Obama. Yesterday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas took his turn at the White House. His meeting with the president comes as Secretary of State Clinton called on Israel to stop expanding settlements into the West Bank. For more we turn to Daniel Levy, Co-Director of the Middle East Task Force at the New America Foundation in Tel Aviv, Israel. We are also joined by Aleem Maqbool, BBC reporter in Ramallah in the West Bank.

The Takeaway looks at two stories in the global news today with our partners, the BBC. First, President Barack Obama unveils his Afghan war strategy today. Officials say the President plans to send thousands of more military and civilian trainers on top of the 17,000 combat troops he's already ordered. The plan includes no time line for withdrawal of troops.

In other news, the Sudanese government says an air attack on the country in January destroyed a convoy carrying weapons intended for Hamas in the Gaza strip. The numbers killed in the attack fluctuate wildly, but the story's made big news in Israel whose prime minister has hinted that Israel's air force was involved. For a look at both these stories we are joined by the BBC's defense correspondent Rob Watson and the BBC's Arab Affairs analyst, Magdi Abdelhadi.

There is a two-day old cease-fire in Gaza and everyone is hopeful that that the fragile peace will hold. As Israeli troops withdraw, Gaza residents begin to rebuild. The borders to Gaza have just opened to the foreign press and we now turn to Charles Levinson, the Jerusalem Bureau Chief for the Wall Street Journal, who joins us from Gaza.

The Israeli army reports that there was a second night of peace after Israel and Hamas reached a tentative cease-fire. Israeli troops have started pulling out of Gaza, although the army isn't saying how long the process will take. In Gaza, residents are beginning to pick up the pieces after being bombarded for more than three weeks. For more on this situation, we turn to BBC Correspondent Bethany Bell.

Watch Al Jazeera's report on the behind-the-scenes diplomacy that lead to this cease-fire.

Israel began an offensive in Gaza three weeks ago with the hope of ending Hamas' ability to fire rockets into Southern Israel. A week later Israel sent in tanks and ground troops, but Hamas has continued to fire rockets and mortars into Israeli territory. Palestinian medical officials say more than 1,300 Palestinians have been killed during the military action. Under mounting diplomatic pressure from the international community, the two parties have agreed to a cease-fire and Israeli troops are withdrawing from Gaza. For more we turn to the BBC's Jonathan Marcus.

For three weeks Israeli forces have gouged deep into Gaza in an attempt to rout out Hamas operatives who are accused of firing rockets into Israel. Their offensive has raised the ire of the international community and the pleas for peace have intensified as civilian casualties mount up. Egypt, the United Nations, and the United States have all been working to craft a cease-fire. Today, Israeli government officials are spreading around the world bringing new hope for an imminent cease-fire. But what does Israel need for a durable and lasting peace? To answer that we turn to Mark Regev, a spokesman for the Israeli government who joins us from Jerusalem.

As Israel's offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip heads into its third week, international cries for peace have intensified. The U.S., the United Nations and Egypt continue what has been described as a feverish round of telephone tag in an effort to forge a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas on the 21st day of fighting. For more on what it might take to create a lasting cease-fire between the parties, we turn to Hanan Ashwari, a Palestinian legislator, activist, and scholar for her insight into the ongoing assault in Gaza.


Uriel Sinai/Getty Images

Diplomatic efforts to end the fighting in Gaza are in high gear. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is in the region for a series of meetings urging a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Despite these calls for peace, Israel's offensive continues with fighting raging in Gaza City and reports of Israeli shelling of the U.N. headquarters in Gaza. For the latest on the troubling situation in Gaza we turn to Laura Trevelyan, the BBC's United Nations correspondent, who joins us from the bus where she is traveling with Ban Ki-Moon from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

For more, watch an Al-Jazeera report on the United Nations' warning on the plight of children in Gaza.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, is calling for an immediate halt to the fighting in Gaza. He says that intense negotiations between Hamas, Israel, and the global community are needed to end the violence in Gaza. He began a week-long trip to the region to promote his plans for peace after nineteen days of violence in Gaza where an Israeli campaign to end Hamas rocket fire has killed over 900 Palestinians. The Secretary General started his trip in Egypt and we are joined by the BBC's Magdi Abdelhadi in Cairo.