Terrorist Zakaria Zubeidi, who was released in the recent hostage deal, said in an interview with the New York Times months after his release that Palestinians should reconsider their tools in the struggle for independence. Zubeidi, who commanded the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades during the Second Intifada and escaped from Gilboa Prison through a tunnel, described his life as a terrorist activist as feeling "futile": "Nothing has helped establish a Palestinian state - and perhaps nothing ever will. We need to reconsider our tools. We established theater, we tried cultural resistance - what did it do? We also tried the rifle, we tried shooting. There is no solution."