A Palestinian youth holds a portrait of Al-Zubeidi as people gathered in Ramallah waiting to receive the released Palestinian prisoners [Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty]
Israel will release 110 Palestinian prisoners tonight in exchange for captives released earlier by Hamas, as part of the third phase of the ceasefire deal that ended Israel’s 15-month war on Gaza.
Hamas, which has fought Israel since 7 October 2023, handed seven captives over to the International Red Cross in the Gaza Strip, including Israeli soldier Agam Berger. One more Israeli and five Thai captives were also handed over.
The names of the Palestinian detainees scheduled to be released in return have been published and include minors – 18 years of age and younger – and those whose prison sentences have varied, including life imprisonment.
They will be freed from Ofer prison and arrive Thursday evening in Ramallah, the occupied West Bank, after initial plans to free them during the day. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Gaza – had reportedly decided to delay their release, and Hamas said it was following up on the matter with mediators.
Who are these prisoners, what have they been accused of and what will happen to them once they’re released?
Palestinian icon
One of the most prominent prisoners expected to be freed on Thursday is Zakariya Al-Zubeidi, who was the Jenin commander of Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, the military wing of the Fatah movement.
Seen as a Palestinian icon for his lifelong role in the resistance, he was last detained in 2019 but has been in and out of Israeli prisons since he was only 15.
Al-Zubeidi, whose mother, brothers and son were killed by Israel, was one of the five Palestinian prisoners who broke out of the Gilboa prison in September 2021, an operation that left Israel stunned. They were caught again days later.
‘Holy Revenge’
Mohammed Abu Warda, another prominent prisoner from the occupied West Bank’s Fawwar Camp, is also scheduled to walk free on Thursday.
He was sentenced to 48 life terms for his alleged role in a 1996 Jerusalem bus bombing that killed dozens of Israelis, in an attack that came part of a series of operations dubbed “Holy Revenge” that came in response to the assassination of Yahya Ayyash, the commander of Hamas’ armed wing, Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades.
Plot to kill Ben-Gvir
Rashid Al-Rashq, 25, was accused of planning to assassinate Israel’s extremist Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, before he joined Netanyahu’s current far-right cabinet.
Al-Rishq was detained in April 2022 and sentenced to 13 years and 10 months over those accusations.
Hailing from Jerusalem’s Old City, the Palestinian man was first arrested by Israeli forces when he was only 14.
Oldest prisoner from Jerusalem
Muhammad Al-Shaalan who had been serving a life sentence will also be released on Thursday. He is the oldest prisoner from the Jerusalem area, hailing from Abu Dis, a village just east of the city.
He was arrested in 1999 and subjected to inhumane conditions by Israeli prison authorities, resulting in his mental and physical well-being seriously deteriorating, like the thousands of Palestinians held by Israel.
Al-Shaalan is one of two Palestinians who will be exiled after being freed, alongside Abed Dwayyat, who is only 28 and who had been sentenced to 18 years.
Dwayyat has served 10 years of his sentence and was arrested after being accused of killing an Israeli settler by pelting his car with stones.
Thirty minors
The 110 prisoner names have been divided into different categories, and different batches have been listed in exchange for each Israeli captive.
Among the Palestinians are 32 prisoners sentenced to life, 48 prisoners given various terms, and 30 minors, the latter of whom are all male.
The youngest prisoner is Muhammad Lutfi Ali, 15, from the Shuafat Camp east of Jerusalem. Other minors include Mahdi Abu Hamed, 17, from Sur Baher in occupied East Jerusalem, Reda Obeid, 18, from Al-Issawiya, a village northeast of Jerusalem, and Muhammad Abu Hilal, 16, from Abu Dis.
The Family Committee of Jerusalemite Prisoners says 58 minors from Jerusalem alone remain locked up by Israel.
Below are the names of only the 30 minors to be released on Thursday:
Mamoun Mahmoud Sobhi Hussein
Mahdi Maher Jamil Abu Hamed
Ahmad Mahmoud Wajih Najma
Bassam Ammar Rouhi Ba’ara
Amir Louay Ahmad Abu Arja
Muhammad Husni Omar Abdel Qader Al-Qawasmeh
Ahmad Raed Zaid Faroukh
Ahmad Muhammad Nayef Al-Hawamdeh
Oqab Ayman Tawfiq Ibrahim
Reda Muhammad Obeid
Moataz Othman Muhammad Hussein Bukhari
Ahmad Khaled Nafi’ Assaf
Yazan Akram Muhammad Abu Al-Heija
Hamza Mohsen Mahmoud Shreim
Zain Al-Din Issam Muhammad Al-Zeer
Mu’tasim Muhammad Ahmad Amin Zaid
Dawood Trad Muhammad Salaimeh
Moataz Muhammad Abdullah Radwani
Muhammad Yasin Tayseer Sabah
Muntaser Iyad Adnan Saqr
Hudhayfah Amjad Rouhi Marrah
Shihab Al-Din Othman Ibrahim Zaoul
Saif Al-Din Muhammad Abdul Rahman Darwish
Muhammad Lutfi Omar Muhammad Ali
Mustafa Nadeem Mustafa Abu Reida
Abdul Hadi Mazen Muhammad Jaabari
Hadi Saber Mousa Abu Jadu’
Jad Allah Murad Jihad Amara
Saif Al-Din Fayez Mahmoud Muhammad
Muhammad Amer Yousef Abu Hilal
Below are the names of the 32 prisoners to be released on Thursday after they were serving life sentences:
Muhammad Fawzi Salama Fallana
Muhammad Taha Abdul Rahman Al-Shaalan
Wael Yaqin Mousa Al-Natsha
Ali Yousef Najeeb Sbeih
Abdel Fattah Naif Abdel Fattah Radwan
Ramzi Muhammad Ahmad Abu Shama
Ahmad Sadiqi Suleiman Radwan
Ismail Dawood Hussein Radaida
Misbah Khalil Misbah Heles
Issa Salem Ismail Darabee’
Mahmoud Ahmad Shaker Dudin
Ammar Mustafa Ahmad Mardi
Muhammad Atiya Mahmoud Abu Warda
Haitham Ahmad Samara Antari
Jalal Hossam Ahed Al-Faqih
Hussein Faisal Hussein Nassar
Sami Suleiman Ibrahim Jaradat
Sameh Samir Muhammad Al-Shobaki
Mundhir Nayef Mut’eb Sanober
Jamal Nimr Khader Hamamrah
Alaa Ahmad Abdel Moneim Salah
Tariq Abdul Aziz Abdullah Al-Batran
Jamal Nazih Jameel Ja’afrah
Muhammad Lutfi Abdul Rahim Qashou’
Ahmad Muhammad Zuhdi Marshoud
Muhammad Khaled Hassan Amoudi
Wajih Jalal Wajih Khalil
Omar Ahmad Abdel Rahman Abu Al-Rub
Adam Muhammad Abdel Aziz Younis
Alaa Al-Din Tawfiq Muhammad Freihat
Nasser Jamal Mousa Shawish
Muhammad Tawfiq Hassan Ghawadra
Below are the names of the prisoners to be released on Thursday after they were serving other various sentences:
Hamdi Muhammad Shahada Al-Taamari
Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Ziad Hassan Awad
Mousa Muhammad Mousa Ajlouni
Abdel Mahmoud Abdel Rabbo Dwayyat
Sobhi Ibrahim Muhammad Abu Khalifa
Tariq Khalil Abbas Dweik
Saeed Farouq Muhammad Qambaz
Muhammad Majdi Mustafa Al-Izza
Murad Ghassan Zuhdi Rajabi
Muhammad Mansour Muhammad Mousa
Muhammad Fahmi Muhammad Faroukh
Amir Nader Fahmi Faroukh
Muhammad Jamal Muhammad Rushdi
Mahmoud Ramadan Muhammad Halabi
Mahmoud Abdul Wahab Saeed Abdul Latif
Muhammad Khaled Muhammad Sabah
Rami Aref Shatyawi Salah Al-Din
Zakaria Muhammad Abdul Rahman Zubaidi
Rashid Rasmi Muhammad Rashid Al-Rashq
Muab Maymoon Jameel Abu Khudair
Muhammad Shaker Muhammad Tarda
Nidal Muhammad Mustafa Al-Barai
Qutaiba Muhammad Saleh Muslim
Qasem Maarouf Saleem Muslim
Nasser Khaled Muhammad Al-Anqawi
Jihad Youssef Muhammad Al-Hindi
Ashraf Rajeh Ahmad Nawfal
Bilal Abdul Samee’ Hussein Al-Adini
Jihad Ibrahim Ahmad Basha
Ahed Younis Awadallah Abu Khousa
Omar Muhammad Hassan Akkaoui
Youssef Hussein Youssef Haifa
Ibrahim Rabah Muhammad Habisha
Aref Muhammad Hassan Samara
Ahmad Dawood Salman Ibrahim
Baha Al-Din Muhammad Ali Al-Qassas
Muhammad Hassan Muhammad Jali
Abdul Rahim Abdul Qader Mutair Abu Huli
Muhammad Farouq Sharif Abu Al-Rab
Haitham Jamal Ali Jaber
Amjad Khader Shahada Abu Samra
Hossam Mousa Muhammad Al-Arouri
Muayyad Muhammad Saleem Zayoud
Fathi Muhammad Mahmoud Najjar
Ahmad Rashad Al-Zein Al-Sakani
Shahada Nimr Shahada Al-Jiyawi
Ali Muhammad Ali Farajallah
Anwar Muhammad Masoud Al-Asa
