Palestinian newspaper al-Ayyam reported on Friday that Egypt handed over a letter written by Gilad Shalit to Israel, telling his father that he is alive and well. The newspaper said the letter is the first sign of life from Shalit since his kidnapping.

“This is an important development which is likely to seriously open the door for a prisoners swap deal of Palestinian prisoners in return for Gilad Shalit,” the newspaper wrote.

The newspaper reported that Israel refused to discuss a prisoner exchange deal with the Palestinians before receiving proof that Shalit is alive.

The report said that former deputy Shin Bet head Ofer Dekel, who was appointed by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to negotiate Shalit’s release, traveled to Cairo two days ago where he was handed the letter.

Israel conducted forensic handwriting identification tests to check if the letter was indeed written by Shalit, before showing it to Noam Shalit.

YN