Gaza ceasefire between Israel and Hamas nears: Live updates
Israel must release more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners during an initial 42-day ceasefire, starting on Sunday with at least 90 in exchange for three Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, according to the terms of the deal.
The Israelis say that most of the prisoners are terrorists and murderers. Many Palestinians see the imprisoned militants as freedom fighters against the Israeli regime, and they argue that others have been imprisoned by an unfair Israeli military justice system.
Here are some of the most prominent Palestinian prisoners to be released as part of the ceasefire, according to Israel’s Ministry of Justice.
Zakaria Zubeydi
For the past two decades, Zakaria Zubeidi, 49, has been a militant, theater director and escaped prisoner whose escape stunned Israelis and Palestinians alike.
Mr. Zubeidi rose to prominence as a militant leader during the Second Intifada, or uprising, in the early 2000s, when Palestinian militants carried out deadly attacks against Israelis, including kamikaze attacks targeting civilian neighborhoods.
Israel responded by reoccupying major Palestinian cities amid street fighting. Some of the fiercest fighting took place in the Palestinian city of Jannah, Mr. Zubeidi’s hometown. He later emerged as the top commander of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed militia with close ties to the secular Fatah party, the ruling Palestinian political faction in the West Bank.
After the uprising, Mr. Zubeydi a Theater in Hardscrabble Jen’s refugee camp. In 2019, Israel arrested him, accusing him of returning to militancy.
Two years later, Mr. Zubeidi and five other Palestinian prisoners performed a jailbreak Crawling about 32 yards through an underground tunnel outside one of Israel’s maximum security prisons. Although they were later recaptured, the security breach shocked the Israelis and alarmed the Palestinians.
In September, an Israeli drone strike killed Mr. Zubeidi’s son, Mohammed. The Israeli military called his son a “significant terrorist” and said he was involved in shooting at Israeli soldiers.
Wissam Abbasi, Mohammad Odeh and Wael Qassim
Wissam Abbasi, 48, Mohammad Odeh, 52, and Wael Ghassim, 54, were arrested in 2002 on charges of orchestrating Hamas attacks against Israelis during the Second Intifada. According to the Israeli Ministry of Justice, three people were sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and a number of other crimes.
According to contemporary Israeli media, the men are among those convicted several times Participates in the Hamas cell in Jerusalem It was responsible for a series of explosions in crowded civilian areas that killed more than 30 Israelis.
Among the attacks was an explosion by Hamas at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem nine peopleAccording to Israeli authorities, there are also four US citizens.
Mr. Odeh, who works as an artist at the university, placed the bomb in the cafeteria, covered it with a newspaper, “The New York Times” newspaper reported on thisIt reports with reference to Israeli officials. As he left, he set off the explosives remotely with a cellphone, officials said.
According to the Israeli Ministry of Justice, under the terms of the ceasefire agreement, the men will not be allowed to return to their homes in Jerusalem. They will be required to live in exile, although it is unclear where they will be allowed to go.
Khalida Jarrar
One of the most prominent Palestinian prisoners expected to be released on Sunday is Khaleda Jarrar, 62, the left-wing leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Mrs. Jarrar, one of the well-known activists for the protection of the rights of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, was elected to the Palestinian parliament in the 2006 elections.
The United States and the European Union consider the Popular Front a terrorist organization. The group rose to prominence in the late 1960s with a number of TV series plane hijackingsas well as other attacks, including during the Second Intifada.
Her husband, Ghassan Jarrar, said in a telephone interview that Israeli authorities have not allowed him to visit his wife since her arrest in December 2023. he said.
Ms. Jarrar has spent much of the past decade in Israeli prisons and abroad, although she has not been charged with direct involvement in the Popular Front’s military activities. In 2015, he was He was sentenced to 15 months of imprisonment to incite and belong to a proscribed organization.
In recent years, Israel has mostly detained Ms. Jarrar without formal charges. Rights groups call the practice a serious violation of due process, while Israel says it is sometimes necessary to protect sensitive intelligence.
In 2021, her daughter Suha Jarrar died while being held in an Israeli prison. Israel denied his request for humanitarian leave to attend the funeral.
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