Israel was impatiently awaiting on Wednesday for news of when captive soldier Gilad Shalit would return home, a day after the unveiling of key deal with Hamas that will see 1,000 Palestinians freed.
The agreement, which was signed late on Tuesday, is expected to get under way in the coming days, with the initial release of some 450 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the now 25-year-old soldier.
A second tranche of 550 prisoners will be released within two months.
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Top officials from Israel, Egypt and the Hamas movement have all said the process would begin within days, but so far there have been no specific details on the timing or the location of the swap.
Israel's chief negotiator David Meidan said he was due in Egypt soon to finalise details of Shalit's return home.
"The mission is not complete yet; it will be when Gilad returns home. Let's hope that will be in a matter of days," he said at the start of a working meeting with President Shimon Peres.
If the accord is implemented, it will end an ordeal that has lasted more than five years for the young soldier, who has become a national icon in Israel since his capture by Gaza-based militants in June 2006.
It will also be the first time in 26 years that a captured Israeli soldier has been returned to the Jewish state alive.
And it will be a major political coup for Gaza's Hamas rulers, particularly vis-a-vis the Ramallah-based leadership of president Mahmud Abbas.
In Gaza, the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), one of the three groups which snatched Shalit along with Hamas and a Salafi group called the Army of Islam, said they had informed the soldier his release was imminent.
"The PRC-Nasser Brigades informed Shalit, the prisoner it holds with the other factions, that the prisoner swap has been completed and it may be implemented in the next few days," Abu Attaya told AFP.
The agreement, which won the backing of Israel's top military and defence chiefs, was approved by the government early on Wednesday, although Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and two others voted against it.
"This is a great victory for Hamas," National Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau told army radio, shortly after voting against the deal, which he said sent a clear message that "terror pays."
Israel has long baulked at the idea of freeing hundreds of Palestinians involved in anti-Israeli violence, fearing they would use their new-found freedom to launch new attacks.
"There's no doubt this is very hard for the families of hundreds of victims of terror," Yoram Cohen, head of the Shin Bet internal security agency, told reporters late on Tuesday.
"This is not a deal that we can say is good, but if you want to bring Shalit home there's no other option."
In Washington, the White House said it was pleased with reports Shalit will be released soon.
"We are pleased by the reports that Mr Shalit will be home soon with his family," spokesman Jay Carney said. "The president has called many times for his release and his release is long overdue."
Chris Gunness, spokesman for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees, said: "The freeing of Gilad Shalit gives an ideal opportunity for Israel to thoroughly review the policy of blockading Gaza."
It remains unclear for now whether Shalit would be returned to Israel via Egypt, or even Germany -- both countries helped broker the deal -- and whether the 450 prisoners would be freed first or concurrently.
Cohen said that in the coming days, 131 Gazans and 96 prisoners from the West Bank would be allowed to return to their families, as would six Arab Israelis and 14 Palestinians from east Jerusalem.
But another 203 would not be permitted to return to their West Bank homes, with 163 of them to be released in Gaza, and 40 to be sent overseas.
Separately, 27 female detainees will be released, with two facing deportation.
Although none of the prisoners has been named, Israel has ruled out releasing high-profile Palestinian leader Marwan Barghuti and top PFLP militant Ahmed Saadat.
Israel Prisons Service will release a list of names by Sunday at the latest, the justice ministry said, with the public guaranteed "at least 48 hours" to file any legal challenges.
In Jerusalem, Shalit's parents Noam and Aviva set off for their home in northern Israel after spending nearly 16 months living in a protest tent outside Netanyahu's residence.
And in Gaza, the Hamas prime minister telephoned Abbas to update him on details of the agreement, calling it "a national achievement for the prisoners," Haniya's office said.
