It has been three years since Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was captured by Palestinian militants from Gaza who staged a well-planned cross-border raid on an Israeli military compound.

The anniversary is coinciding with a new round of stories in the Israeli media suggesting that Shalit's freedom from captivity in Gaza is "imminent."

Reports like these pop up in the Israeli media about once every three or four months.

Israeli journalists rely on anonymous sources who reportedly suggest that a "breakthrough" has been made and that only a few details need to be hammered out.

Like the larger Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the devil is in the details. And that's why these reports about Shalit's imminent freedom have always proved to be false.

In March, outgoing Israeli PM Ehud Olmert tried to make a last-minute deal with Hamas for release of Shalit, but the talks collapsed because the two sides could not agree on the details.

One of these days, these reports may prove true. But the things left to be sorted out are not small, technical provisions; they are major issues that have prevented an agreement.

Israel and Hamas leaders still have to agree on which Palestinian prisoners should be freed from Israeli prisons. They have to agree on whether the prisoners can return to their homes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, or if they should be exiled - as has been done in past prisoner exchanges.

Shalit's freedom is said to be part of a "mega-deal" that will include PA President Mahmoud Abbas and his frail Fatah party reconciling with Hamas, presumably leading to a new unity government, an agreement from Israel to lift its crippling economic restrictions on goods entering Gaza, and release of Palestinian prisoners serving time for attacks on Israel.

At present, the Israeli media is divided in its coverage of the reported breakthrough.

Haaretz has been reporting news of the "imminent" transfer of Shalit. (Although Haaretz reports that Shalit could be transferred to Egypt "within hours" have already been replaced by reports of a deal "within days.")

Maariv suggested this morning that a deal might be coming... some day. The Jerusalem Post referred to "escalating rumors" of Shalit's imminent release. And Yedioth Ahronoth downplayed the story entirely...

A woman walks past a painting of Gilad Shalit at a protest tent in Jerusalem. (AP photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)

A Palestinian woman walks past a wall painting of Gilad Shalit in the Gaza Strip. (AP photo/Khalil Hamra)