Let’s start with a few things the video doesn’t have:

No Hamas or Islamic flags
There is no over, traditional terror in this video [as in the Nachshon Wachsman video from 1994 - which also has the same date on it 14/9]

No Hamas fighters standing over Schalit holding guns or knives – like they do in Iraq
No overt propaganda, Israel bashing, or praising of Hamas
No demands for prisoner release were read out, only hope that Netanyahu would not miss an opportunity to complete the deal
No Islamic music like they have in video made by terrorists in Iraq

This could mean that Hamas had agreed to keep the video sterile and to the point, so that its main message can get out: Schalit is alive and well [as of September 14]. The German, Egyptian mediation between Israel and Hamas has scored a significant victory, it looks serious and professional. It doesn’t look like your usual Islamic terrorist hostage video, it looks like it was made by an organization keeping to the terms of an agreement for a prisoner exchange.

He displays no torture marks, wounds, scratches or cuts. He gets up and walks towards the camera and back, obviously to show that his body is whole and not damaged. He looks like he has recently had a haircut and is clean shaved.

There is no close up of Schalit’s face. Any sustained close-up of his face would have given Israeli experts much more insight into his state of mind. Listening to his voice, one does get the sense that he is in emotional distress; his voice is hollow, labored.

Here is what there is in the video: the soldier himself, dressed in some sort of uniform [not his IDF issued uniform] which is clean and neatly pressed, a newspaper, a piece of white paper that he reads from, and a chair. There is a light at the top left of the room, and perhaps some sort of fan or air conditioning [evidenced by the movement of the white sheet Schalit is reading from]. Schalit’s captors probably didn’t want him to be seen sweating [which could be construed as a sign of stress]. Assuming the video was shot in a bunker, it would need some form of ventilation otherwise the heat would have made Schalit uncomfortable.

Schalit looks good, better than what would be imagined of a soldier held in captivity for over three years, and wounded when first abducted. He looks healthy, if a bit thin. His captors have clearly looked after him, treated his wounds, and kept him psychologically sane [he doesn't babble and has no twitches].

Something intriguing: He smiles twice, in what look almost to be playful, embarrassed smiles. He might be happy that, for the first time since his abduction, his parents will get to see him, and that this represents some hope that progress is being made for his eventual release. He may have been put in front of a camera before, however, but it seems that he finds it hard to hide his giddiness, his momentary happiness, that there could be some progress in his case. His intonation of the word ‘Mujahadeen’ [Freedom Fighters] is not polished, seems unpracticed, as if he has not been speaking Arabic during his three years of captivity. It could be that his captors have been speaking Hebrew to him all this time. His ability to smile briefly when he says ‘Mujahedeen’, could mean that he’s somewhat embarrassed at the word, or that it gives rise to a strong emotion within him. He does smile briefly when saying, “I hope to be home soon” – which could mean that he still has hope that this will come to pass. However, his tone of voice sounds stressed and he stumbles on some Hebrew words, which could mean that he didn’t rehearse much before his performance; and it could also mean that his state of mind is not that good.

The soundtrack is entirely given over to Schalit – who reads from a prepared statement.

The translation from Hebrew is by Reuters:

“Hello. I am Gilad, son of Noam and Aviva Shalit, brother of Hadass and Yoel, who lives in Mitzpe Hila. My ID number is 300097029. Today is Monday, the 14th of the 9th, 2009. As you can see I am holding in my hand today’s edition from 14.9.2009 of the newspaper Palestine that is published in Gaza.

“I am reading the paper with the aim of finding information about myself and hope to find some information that will herald news of my release and of my return home soon.

“I have been hoping and waiting for a long time for the day I will be relased and hope that the current government headed by Benajmin Netanyahu will not now waste the opportunity to conclude the deal and as a result of this I will finally be able to realise my dream and be released.

“I want to send regards to my family and to tell them that I love them and miss them very much and yearn for the day that I will see them again.

“Dad, Yoel and Hadass, do you remember the day you arrived at my base on the Golan Heights on 31.12.2005, which if I am not mistaken is called Revaya B. We did a tour around the base and you photographed me on a Merkava tank and on one of the old tanks at the entrance to the base.

“Afterwards we went to a restaurant in one of the Druze villages and on the way we took photos at the roadside with the snowy Mount Hermon in the background.

“I want to tell you that I am feeling well in terms of health and that the mujahideen from the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades (Hamas’s armed wing) are treating me excellently.

“Thank you and we’ll meet again soon.”