Twenty-five Egyptians crossed the border home on Oct 27 and some bowed down in prayer during a prisoner exchange involving an American-Israeli man who Egypt charged with spying and who flew to Tel Aviv after his release. Israel swapped 25 jailed Egyptians – some convicted of smuggling – for Ilan Grapel, 27, who was detained in Egypt in June on accusations he was out to recruit agents and monitor events in the revolt that toppled Hosni Mubarak, an ally of Israel and the United States. Many of the freed Egyptians knelt to pray before boarding a coach to cross into their homeland, reports said.
The US-brokered exchange deal was reached shortly after a more high-profile, Egyptian-brokered swap between Israel and Hamas that freed captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.