Schalit describes imprisonment in 1st interview

Gilad Schalit, in his first interview in Israel since his release from Hamas captivity after five years last October, spoke of how he passed the time in captivity and his sense of great "relief" upon being set free.

Channel 10 played excerpts from the interview on Thursday. The full interview will be broadcast in the coming days, according to Channel 10.

Schalit, who was an Israeli soldier when he was taken captive, said he played board games with himself. "I used to play a lot of games on my own as well. I used to make a ball out of a sock and throw it around all sorts of places, like into a garbage can." He added that he also drew maps - of the country, of his community and of his favorite places - so he would not forget them. "I used to write, I used to make lists, I used to follow sport events," he said.

Speaking of his release, Schalit said he felt a sense of great "relief" when he crossed into Egypt and that he was disconcerted by the "flurry" of people around him after only seeing a few people for nearly six years. Schalit said he felt a lot of "pressure" during the trip from where he was hidden to the Rafah border before being set free.

"I was really tired and slept well," Schalit said of his return home. "Then I wandered around my house."

He added wryly that when he was forced to be interviewed on Egyptian television, the interviewer was the first woman he had seen since being taken captive.