Tel Aviv [Israel], February 16: On Saturday, Israel released 369 Palestinian prisoners, including 36 individuals serving life sentences for murder, in exchange for hostages Sasha Trufanov, Sagui Dekel-Chen, and Yair Horn.
Among the 369, 333 Palestinians were from Gaza, detained during the ongoing conflict, while the remaining 36 were convicted terrorists. In a response to Hamas’ treatment of the hostages, including dressing them in prison uniforms and providing them with farewell “gifts,” the Israel Prison Service dressed the freed terrorists in shirts featuring the Israeli Prison Service logo and a phrase in Arabic that read, “We will not forgive or forget.” The prisoners were also shown a video depicting the destruction in Gaza.
The 333 Palestinians from Gaza were returned to the Strip, while the other 36 terrorists were deported. Twenty-five of them were sent to Gaza or abroad through Egypt, 10 returned to Judea and Samaria, and one returned to eastern Jerusalem.
Among those freed were notable terrorists such as Abdel Karim Aweis, a former intelligence officer in the Palestinian Authority Security Services and a commander in Fatah’s Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, who was serving multiple life sentences for organizing shooting attacks and suicide bombings during the Second Intifada. Aweis will be deported abroad via Egypt. Another key figure, Ahmed Barghouti, a senior Fatah member and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades commander, was serving 13 life sentences for orchestrating suicide bombings in Jerusalem that killed 12 Israelis and injured dozens more. Barghouti, 48, will also be deported abroad via Egypt. Other notable terrorists freed include Ahmed Abu Hader, who had been serving multiple life sentences for a shooting attack that killed six, and Shadi Abu Shakhdam, who had planned a 2002 bombing at Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda Market that killed 12 and injured 80.
This prisoner release is part of the first phase of a ceasefire agreement, in which 33 Israeli hostages are to be freed over six weeks in exchange for up to 1,904 Palestinian terrorists. The exact number of terrorists to be released depends on the status of the Israeli captives. Hamas had notified Israeli authorities in January that eight of the 33 hostages were dead but provided no evidence.
Since the first hostage release on January 19, Hamas has freed 19 Israeli and five Thai captives in exchange for 952 Palestinian prisoners. The fate of the remaining 65 hostages remains uncertain, with critics arguing that the phased release process prolongs the captivity of the remaining hostages and undermines Israel’s progress in the war.
Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border resulted in the deaths of at least 1,200 people, with 252 Israelis and foreigners taken hostage. It is believed that more than 30 of the 73 remaining hostages are dead.