A well-informed source of the Palestinian Islamic Hamas movement on Thursday revealed some of the contents of a video tape showing Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit at his captivity in the Gaza Strip.
The one-minute tape of Shalit, who has been held in Gaza since 2006, "was sent to Egypt on Monday with a Hamas delegation" which left Gaza for a meeting with Egyptian officials, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
The video was shot two months ago "at a disclosed area in the Gaza Strip," the source said, adding that Shalit wearing civilian cloths stood in front of a big piece of cloth with Hamas' military wing's logo.
"The tape clearly shows that the captive soldier enjoys a good health and doesn't show any signs of wounds," the Hamas source said.
"Only a small group of people is in charge of Shalit's holding and no one from Hamas leadership knows the place where the soldier is staying," the source continued.
He also revealed that communications between Hamas leaders and Shalit's captors are "very restricted and difficult."
The Hamas source expected that the tape would be delivered to Israel and to Shalit's family Thursday.
Earlier, German mediators have "shown the tape to Israeli negotiators," according to the source.
Israel is set to free 20 female prisoners after it verifies the tape. The mutual gestures could pave the way for a wider prisoner exchange as Israeli sources said the swap might complete in two months.
Hamas demands Israel free more than 1,000 Arab and Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit.
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