To guarantee the release of all 20 hostages still alive in Gaza, Israel had to release around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, many of them convicted of terrorist attacks that left dozens of Israeli civilians dead.
The measure is part of the peace agreement brokered by the United States, which also includes the return by Hamas of the bodies of 28 hostages murdered during captivity in Gaza.
According to Israel, at least 250 of those released under the agreement were serving life sentences or long sentences in the country for direct involvement in suicide bombings, bus explosions and armed attacks against civilians.
Hamas members: perpetrators of attacks, kidnappings and murders
One of the Hamas terrorists released by Israel at this stage of the peace agreement is Imad Qawasmeh, 52 years old. He was convicted of commanding a double terrorist attack in the city of Beersheba in 2004, which killed 16 Israelis. Another terrorist from the Palestinian group, Ahmad Ismail Ahmad Qawassmeh, 35 years old – also freed at this stage of the agreement – was convicted of the murder of Rabbi Shaya Ben David, in 2018.
Among those released is Qassem Aref Khalil al-Asafreh, 36, convicted of killing Israeli student Dvir Sorek, 18, who was stabbed in 2019 while returning from school. Baher Badr, another Hamas terrorist who was convicted of planning a suicide attack in 2004, near a military base, which left eight dead, and Mahmoud Kawasmeh, 45, accused of financing and planning the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in 2014, a crime that triggered the Gaza war that year, were also freed.
In addition to those already mentioned, Maher Abu Srour, convicted of the murder of Israeli agent Haim Nahmani, in 1993, was also released through an agreement; Mansour Riyan, convicted of murder in the 1990s, and Mohammad Nasser Sha’aban Abu Rabea, aged 31, responsible for stabbing two Israeli civilians in 2015. Also released were Faisal Mahmoud Abdullah Khalifa, aged 43, arrested last year for weapons possession and conspiracy; Alaa al-Din al-Karki, 52 years old, imprisoned since 1993 for multiple attacks against Israeli civilians, and Yusuf Zahur, named by Israel as one of the perpetrators of the murder of Dvir Sorek, in the same case that involved Al-Asafreh.
Members of Fatah and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades
The Fatah group – led by the current president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas – also had dozens of extremist militants released, many of them convicted of attacks during the so-called Second Intifada, the Palestinian uprising that occurred in the early 2000s.
They include Muhammad Aref Samhan, 55, who was convicted of organizing the terrorist attack on a bus in Jerusalem in 2003, which killed 23 people. Along with him, 46-year-old Ibrahim Muhammad al-Raai was also released. According to Israel, al-Raai was responsible for a bomb attack in Nablus, in the West Bank, and for multiple shootings. Rashid Mahmoud Omar, 48, was also released. Mahmoud Omar was in prison for killing a Palestinian accused of collaborating with Israel.
Other Fatah members released under the agreement also include Raad Abd al-Aziz, 45, convicted of murder, attempted murder and weapons possession; Firas Sadiq Muhammad Ghanem, 51, of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, responsible for attacks that caused nine deaths and Atiyah Abu Samhadana, 56, a Fatah veteran convicted of armed attacks in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip.
The list also includes Bilal Ajarmeh, author of 17 shooting attacks on Israeli highways in 2003, and Fares Ganam, convicted of killing eight Israeli civilians. Other names are Haitham Hamdan, perpetrator of an attack on an Israeli highway that killed three people in 2001, and Halil Abu Aram, convicted of the murder of the couple Yossi and Hana Dikstein, in 2002.
Among the others freed are Rami Nour, convicted of killing a police officer at a bus stop in Jerusalem; Riyad al-Amur, accused of killing nine Israelis; Salam Zaal, convicted of murdering Israeli Evyatar Borovsky, in 2013, and Morad Bader Abdullah Adais, who stabbed Israeli nurse Dafna Meir, mother of six, in 2016.
Other Fatah names include Jihad Rom, perpetrator of an attack in Ramallah; Mohammed Abu Shahin, convicted of killing Israeli student Danny Gonen, in 2015; Muhammad Zakarneh, accused of planning the murder of an Israeli taxi driver, and Nasser Abu Srour, also involved in the murder of agent Haim Nahmani, in 1993.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists
Among those freed from Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) are Arafat Hamid Zir, aged 43, convicted of aiding and abetting murder, and Iyad Muhammad Abu al-Rub, aged 51, considered one of the main Jihad commanders in Jenin, responsible for suicide bombings between 2003 and 2005 that left at least 13 people dead.
Iham Kamamji, convicted of kidnapping and murdering Israeli Eliyahu Asheri, in 2006, and Mohammed Aradeh, convicted of killing an Israeli and organizing a prison break in 2021, were also released.
Another freed man is Tarek Hasayin, convicted of the murder of Israeli girl Noam Leibowitz, who was shot dead on an Israeli highway in 2003, when she was just seven years old.
Militants of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)
Among those released from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) are Ibrahim al-Hani, 54, involved in fatal attacks during the Second Intifada, and Ibrahim al-Qam, 53, who was serving two life sentences for terrorism crimes.
Another extremist in the organization is Ibrahim Alakam, convicted of killing the couple Ita and Efraim Tzur, in 1996, and Basem Khandakji, sentenced for planning an attack on a market in 2004, which killed three Israeli civilians.
Serious and individual cases
Individuals without direct links to Palestinian terrorist groups, but who committed serious crimes, were also released. Ahmad Mahmed Jameel Shahada is one of them. He was convicted of raping and killing a 13-year-old boy in 1989, one of the oldest crimes among those released. Hilmi Abdul Karim Muhammad Hammash, convicted of coordinating the attack on a bus in Jerusalem in 2004, which killed 11 people, was also another name without direct links to Gaza groups that was freed through the agreement.
Terrorists held captive
Israel detained the strongest names linked to terrorist groups in Gaza. Among them are Marwan Barghouti, considered the “architect” of the Second Intifada; Ahmad Sa’adat, secretary general of the PFLP; and senior Hamas commanders Ibrahim Hamed, Abbas al-Sayed and Hassan Salameh, all convicted of dozens of suicide bombings.
