American-Israeli Ilan Grapel is to be released this weekend from prison in Cairo, four months after being arrested on charges of "spying" for Israel.

Mr Grapel, a student at Emory University in Atlanta, spent several years in Israel and served in the Paratroopers Brigade. He is to be released in exchange for 25 Egyptians held in Israel on smuggling charges.

The pilot who flew Gilad Shalit back to his home last week was the son of an Israel Air Force fighter who was with navigator Ron Arad when he went missing in 1986.

A US student being held as an Israeli spy in Egypt is expected to walk free in the coming days after Israel agreed to a prisoner swap.

The Israeli soldier who was freed last week after five years in the captivity of Hamas has thanked President Shimon Peres for the support he gave the family.

Gilad Shalit and his parents met the president at their home in northern Israel today, six days after he returned to Israeli soil for the first time since June 2006.

The Egyptian journalist who questioned Gilad Shalit shortly after he was released from captivity has defended her technique.

Shahira Amin interviewed the sergeant, who looked pale, thin and tired and at points even gasping for breath, even before he had returned to Israeli soil and seen or spoken to his family.

"There is no greater mitzvah than redeeming captives," wrote the 12th century scholar Maimonides, one of the most influential rabbis of all times.