Israel on Saturday will release a total of 620 convicted Palestinian terrorists from jail including 60 who were serving extended or live sentences. Of those released, 97 will be exiled including Na'el Barghouti, the longest serving Palestinian prisoner who was convicted of the murder of a bus driver in 1978 and Bilal Ranem who murdered three in a terror attack of a Jerusalem bus in 2015.
The Israel Prison Service (IPS) changed the release attire of Palestinian prisoners freed last Saturday's hostage-prisoner exchange, dressing them in tracksuits emblazoned with a Star of David and the sentence "I will pursue my enemies and overtake them," and IPS logo, and the phrase, Israeli officials said. Before that prisoners were released after they were given bracelets with the IPS logo and shown videos of destruction in Gaza before their departure.
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Ahead of the release on Saturday, prison authorities found writing on cell walls saying the released prisoners will not kneel in an Israeli humiliating effort. "We will all die but as martyrs," they wrote.
Palestinian terrorists released in hostage deal
(Alex Gamburg)
The authorities opted to provide the prisoners with attire that contained a similar phrase but without the Star of David.