Shalit taken to Cairo for medical exams

JERUSALEM, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit has reportedly been transferred to Cairo for medical and identification examinations before his release from Hamas.

Shalit, whose release was negotiated in a prisoner swap deal involving 1,027 Palestinian prisoners, is expected to be back in Israel early next week, The Jerusalem Post reported Thursday.

The 25-year-old soldier was kidnapped by Hamas militants in a cross-border raid in June 2006.

Israel Radio said Egyptian sources reported Shalit was in Cairo although Hamas officials warned they would not free the soldier until Israel followed through on the agreement to release 477 prisoners, including 27 women, in the first stage of the prisoner swap.

The Jerusalem Post said Shalit's parents, Noam and Aviva, have returned to their home in Mitzpe Hila, leaving the tent they have occupied outside the Israeli prime minister's residence for more than a year.