Egypt to free alleged Israeli spy Grapel in swap deal
An Israeli-American held by Egypt as an alleged spy is to be released in exchange for 25 Egyptians held in Israeli prisons.
Ilan Grapel is expected to arrive at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport later on Thursday and be greeted by his family.
Egypt accused Mr Grapel of spying for Israel during the uprising against former President Hosni Mubarak.
Israel and his family said he was working openly for a legitimate aid project in Cairo.
They say he made no attempt to disguise the fact that he had served in the Israeli army during its war in Lebanon in 2006.
There has also been widespread scepticism in Egypt that Mr Grapel really was an Israeli spy.
He was arrested on 12 June and accused of trying to stir up sectarian strife in Cairo on behalf of the Israeli spy agency Mossad.
The Egyptian prisoners to be released in exchange for Mr Grapel are described as Bedouin and include three children.
They are believed to be mostly smugglers, asylum seekers and people looking for work.
Israel stressed in its statement that none of the Egyptians had been involved in security-related crimes.
They are to be released at the Taba border crossing between Israel and Egypt.
The deal comes less than a week after Israel released the first batch of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit.
He had been held by the militant group, Hamas, which controls Gaza, since 2006.
It appears the deal to release Mr Grapel was negotiated around the same time as the Shalit exchange, says the BBC's Kevin Connolly in Jerusalem.
It shows that Egypt is still capable of dealing with Israel on business-like terms and reminds regional rivals such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia that Cairo's influence is real despite the change in government, our correspondent says.
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