As part of the release last week of six living hostages, Israel is expected to free 620 Palestinian prisoners, whose release was postponed due to Hamas violations in the previous round, when the bodies of four hostages were returned. Among those to be released, 71 were sentenced to life terms, while 60 others received lengthy prison sentences. A total of 97 prisoners will be deported outside Palestinian territories, five will be released to East Jerusalem, 37 to the West Bank, and 457 to the Gaza Strip. Additionally, 105 prisoners will be released with 24 hours' worth of medication, and five will be transferred by ambulance.
The release also includes 47 prisoners who were re-arrested after being freed in the 2011 Shalit deal, as well as 445 Gazans who were detained following the October 7 attack.
Following Hamas' controversial "ceremony" in which it transferred the remains of hostages Oded Lifshitz, Ariel Bibas, and his infant brother Kfir, as well as an unrelated Palestinian woman’s body instead of Shiri Bibas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced a decision to delay the release of 620 prisoners "until the next hostages are freed and without further acts of desecration." The prisoners were originally slated for release following the handover of six living hostages on Saturday. However, even after being loaded onto transport vehicles, they were returned to prison. Subsequent understandings led to the decision to transfer four dead hostages without a public ceremony.
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Among those to be deported is Nael Barghouti, convicted of murdering Israeli bus driver Mordechai Yekuel in 1978. Barghouti was initially freed in the Shalit deal but later re-arrested for violating his release terms. Another notable prisoner is Salama Qatawi, who led Hamas prisoners in Israeli jails over the past four years. Jailed in 2009 for activities with Hamas’ military wing, he was sentenced to 15 years. Also being released is Bilal Abu Ghanem, sentenced to three life terms for the 2015 attack on Jerusalem’s Bus 78, which killed Chaim Haviv, Alon Govberg and Richard Lakin.
Another prisoner set to be freed is Khalil Jabarin Abu Hamid, who murdered Ari Fuld in 2018 at the entrance to a shopping center in Gush Etzion. He was sentenced to life in prison. Also released will be Omar al-Zaben, who was convicted on multiple counts related to deadly attacks, sentenced to 27 life terms plus 25 years, and imprisoned for more than 19 years. A senior figure in Hamas' military wing, he was found responsible for multiple attacks that killed 27 Israelis.
This phase of the prisoner release, which was postponed, includes three veteran prisoners who will all be deported outside Palestinian territories. Alongside Barghouti, Samer Mahroun will be released after serving 38 years for the 1986 murder of a yeshiva student in Jerusalem, and Alaa al-Din al-Bazian, who served 42 years for involvement in various attacks, including the 2014 abduction and murder of Israeli teenagers Naftali Frenkel, Gil-Ad Shaer, and Eyal Yifrah.
On Thursday, Israeli ministers voted on a last-minute swap in which seven prisoners originally slated for deportation chose to remain in prison, and seven others were selected in their place, four of whom are now designated for expulsion.