Who are the Palestinian prisoners released in exchange for Israeli hostages?

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel released 369 Palestinian prisoners and detainees on Saturday in the latest exchange for Israeli hostages captured by Hamas, as a fragile ceasefire held.

Israel views the prisoners as terrorists. Palestinians often see them as freedom fighters resisting a decades-long Israeli military occupation.

Nearly every Palestinian has a friend or family member who has been jailed by Israel for militant attacks or lesser offenses such as rock-throwing. Some are incarcerated for months or years without trial in what is known as administrative detention, which Israel says is needed to prevent attacks and avoid sharing sensitive intelligence.

Among those newly released, 36 had been sentenced to life for involvement in deadly attacks against Israelis. Twelve of those were allowed to return to homes in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem.

Palestinian medics said that four were hospitalized for urgent care. The 24 others with life sentences were being sent into exile.

The rest of the 333 Palestinians released had been detained in Gaza after Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which sparked the war. Israeli forces have arrested hundreds of people in Gaza and held them without trial. As part of the ceasefire, Israel committed to releasing more than 1,000 of them on the condition that they hadn’t participated in the Oct. 7 attack.

A look at some prominent prisoners released since the truce took effect on Jan. 19:

Ahmed Barghouti, 48

Among the most prominent prisoners released is a close aide of militant leader and political figure Marwan Barghouti, who is still imprisoned. The two aren’t closely related.

Ahmed Barghouti was given a life sentence for dispatching assailants to carry out attacks that killed Israeli civilians during the second intifada, or Palestinian uprising, in the early 2000s. As a commander in Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, an armed offshoot of the secular Fatah Party, he was also convicted of possession of firearms and attempted murder.

He was sent to Egypt.

The Sarahneh brothers

Three brothers from east Jerusalem were released after more than 22 years in prison for their involvement in suicide bombings that killed Israelis during the second intifada. Israeli authorities brought Ibrahim, 55, and Musa, 63, to their homes in the West Bank.

The third brother, Khalil, 45, who was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to life in 2002, was sent to Egypt.

Ibrahim Sarahneh’s Ukrainian wife, Irena, had been sentenced to life in prison in 2002 for organizing with her husband a suicide bombing that killed two people in the Israeli city of Rishon Lezion. She was released in 2011 as part of a swap for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas.

“The conditions of detention are more difficult than you could imagine,” Ibrahim Sarahneh told The Associated Press as he stepped off a bus in the West Bank village of Beitunia. “There is beating, insults, cursing.”

The Israeli Prison Service says it ensures “all basic rights” of prisoners and detains them according to the law.

The Aweis brothers

Hassan Aweis, 47, and Abdel Karim Aweis, 54, from the occupied West Bank, were released on Saturday after nearly 23 years in prison.

Hassan Aweis was sentenced to life in 2002 on charges of voluntary manslaughter, planting an explosive device and attempted murder. He was involved in planning attacks during the second intifada for the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade.

“It’s an indescribable feeling of pain mixed with joy,” Aweis said.

Abdel Karim Aweis — sentenced to the equivalent of six life sentences for throwing an explosive device, attempted murder and assault, among other charges — was transferred to Egypt.

Iyad Abu Shakhdam, 49

Abu Shakhdam was sentenced to the equivalent of 18 life sentences over his involvement in Hamas attacks that killed dozens of Israelis during the second intifada. They included a suicide bombing that blew up two buses in Beersheba in 2004, killing 16 Israelis, including a 4-year-old.

Abu Shakhdam was arrested in the West Bank in 2004 following a gunfight with Israeli security forces in which he was shot 10 times.

During 21 years in prison, his family said, he finished high school and earned a certificate for psychology courses. He was released on Feb. 8.

Jamal al-Tawil, 61

Al-Tawil, a prominent Hamas politician in the occupied West Bank, spent nearly two decades in and out of Israeli prisons, in part over allegations that he helped plot suicide bombings.

Most recently, the Israeli military arrested al-Tawil in 2021, saying he had participated in riots and mobilized Hamas political activists in Ramallah, the seat of the semiautonomous Palestinian Authority, Hamas’ main rival. He was held without charge or trial.

Too weak to walk, al-Tawil was taken to a hospital after his release in Ramallah on Feb. 8.

Mohammed el-Halabi, 47

The Palestinian manager of the Gaza branch of World Vision, a Christian aid organization, was arrested in 2016 and accused of diverting tens of millions of dollars to Hamas in a case that drew criticism from rights groups. He was freed on Feb. 1.

El-Halabi and World Vision denied the allegations and independent investigations found no proof of wrongdoing.

Zakaria Zubeidi, 49

A prominent militant leader in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade during the second intifada, Zubeidi later became a theater director in the Jenin refugee camp, where he promoted what he described as cultural resistance to Israel.

His jailbreak in 2021 — when he and five others used spoons to tunnel out of one of Israel’s most secure prisons and remained at large for days before being caught — thrilled Palestinians and stunned the Israeli security establishment.

In 2019, after Zubeidi had served years in prison for attacks in the early 2000s, Israel arrested him again, accusing him of being involved in shooting attacks that targeted buses of Israeli settlers but caused no injuries.

Zubeidi had been awaiting trial when he was sentenced to five years in prison for his jailbreak. He was released on Jan. 30 into the West Bank.

Mohammed Odeh, 52, Wael Qassim, 54, and Wissam Abbasi, 48

They hail from east Jerusalem and rose within the ranks of Hamas. Held responsible for deadly attacks during the second intifada, they were handed multiple life sentences in 2002.

They were accused of plotting a suicide bombing at a pool hall near Tel Aviv in 2002 that killed 15 people. Later that year, they were found to have orchestrated a bombing at Hebrew University that killed nine people, including five American students.

All were transferred to Egypt on Jan. 25.

Mohammad al-Tous, 67

Al-Tous held the title of longest continuously held prisoner in Israel until his release on Jan. 25, Palestinian authorities said.

First arrested in 1985 while fighting Israeli forces along the Jordanian border, the Fatah party activist spent a total of 39 years behind bars. Originally from the West Bank, he was sent into exile.

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