Middle East conflict: Exchange of 33 Gaza hostages for 1,904 Palestinians

During the ceasefire agreed between Israel and Hamas, a total of 1,904 Palestinians are to be released from Israeli prisons and camps. The government in Jerusalem announced this. In return, Hamas must release 33 of 98 Israeli hostages during the six-week ceasefire, which is scheduled to begin on Sunday morning.

The Palestinians are 1,167 arrested residents of the Gaza Strip who were not involved in the massacre by Hamas and other extremists from the coastal strip on October 7, 2023 in Israel with 1,200 dead and more than 250 abducted, the government said. These are probably mainly Hamas fighters who were captured during the last 15 months of fighting.

The other 737 Palestinians to be released are prisoners who were imprisoned or convicted of minor offenses such as throwing stones in the West Bank or crossing the border illegally, as well as illegal possession of weapons or other violations of the law. This also includes prisoners who are serving time for serious crimes such as murder.

The newspaper “Jerusalem Post” reported that one of them was Zecharia Subaidi. During the second Palestinian uprising, the Intifada, from 2000, he was commander of the military wing of the Fatah movement, the Al-Aqsa Brigades, in Jenin in the northern West Bank. Between 2000 and 2005, around 3,500 Palestinians were killed and more than 1,000 Israelis died in attacks by Palestinians.

Also on the list of prisoners to be released was Mahmoud Atallah, who is serving a life sentence plus 15 years for the murder of a Palestinian woman accused of collaborating with Israel. Other names include Wael Kassem and Wisam Abbasi, who are said to have been involved in bombings in Israel that left dozens dead. The Israeli Ministry of Justice published a list of 22 prisoners accused of serious attacks on Israelis.

However, the most prominent Palestinian prisoner in Israel, Marwan Barghouti from the leadership of the Fatah movement, will not be released. He was sentenced to life in prison in 2004 for five counts of murder.