As negotiations between Israel and Hamas over a potential hostage-prisoner exchange gain momentum, the Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds reported Wednesday that discussions are focusing on which Palestinian prisoners will be released in exchange for Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
According to the report, high-profile prisoners serving life sentences may be deported to Turkey or Iran under the terms of the deal.
A few months into the war, Hamas made it clear that the next hostage-prisoner exchange deal must include three renowned Palestinian prisoners, only one of whom is affiliated with the terror organization.
Hamas’ insistence on adding two prominent non-Hamas figures to the list reflects its strategic thinking about the post-war period and its relations with Fatah and other Palestinian factions.
Among the names Hamas is expected to present are prominent figures in Palestinian society who could reshape the Palestinian Authority, foremost being senior Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti. In a recent West Bank poll, Barghouti was the leading candidate to succeed Mahmoud Abbas as chairman of the Palestinian Authority.
Barghouti is serving five consecutive life sentences and an additional 40 years for his involvement in attacks that killed five Israelis and injured many others during the Second Intifada. Formerly the secretary-general of Fatah in the West Bank, he was arrested on April 15, 2002.
Like other Palestinians serving long sentences for terror offenses, Barghouti remains highly popular among Palestinians. Unlike most prisoners, however, his status as a political figure makes him even more revered.
The second name Hamas insists on including in the deal is Ahmed Saadat, secretary-general of the Marxist-Leninist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the mastermind behind the 2001 assassination of Israeli minister Rehavam “Gandhi” Ze’evi.
Israel refused to release Saadat as part of the 2011 prisoner exchange deal that saw the release of captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. Like Marwan Barghouti, Saadat is considered a significant and popular figure in Palestinian society.
Get the Ynetnews app on your smartphone: Google Play: https://bit.ly/4eJ37pE | Apple App Store: https://bit.ly/3ZL7iNv
After Ze’evi’s assassination, Saadat fled to the Muqata’a compound in Ramallah. Then-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat refused to hand him over, prompting an Israeli siege on the compound.
Following negotiations involving the United States and the United Kingdom, the sides reached the "Ramallah Agreement," under which Saadat was imprisoned in Jericho under the supervision of British and American guards. After Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections, Saadat was captured by Israeli forces and sentenced to 30 years in prison in December 2008.
The third high-profile prisoner is Abdullah Barghouti, a senior Hamas operative and former commander of the group’s military wing in the West Bank. Barghouti is currently serving an unprecedented 67 life sentences in Israel for his involvement in multiple deadly attacks. Hamas was unable to secure his release in the Shalit deal, but the organization is now adamant that Barghouti must be freed in the next exchange, along with the other two senior prisoners.
Throughout the war, additional names have emerged that Hamas is expected to demand in exchange for hostages. Among them is Hassan Salameh, a close associate of the slain Hamas bombmaker Yahya Ayyash and a senior figure in Hamas’ military wing.
Salameh has been serving 46 life sentences in Israel since 1997 after being convicted of orchestrating attacks that killed approximately 100 Israelis. He was born and raised in Gaza’s Khan Younis refugee camp, a stronghold of senior Hamas operatives.
Another figure on the list is Abbas al-Sayyid, the chief planner of the 2002 Park Hotel bombing in Netanya. He is serving 35 life sentences for his role in the attack, which killed 30 Israeli civilians and injured more than 160 others.
Hamas is also expected to push for the release of Ibrahim Hamed, formerly the second-most important figure in the group’s West Bank operations after Saleh al-Arouri, who was assassinated in Lebanon earlier this year.
Hamed, a commander of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades during the Second Intifada, was responsible for planning and organizing dozens of attacks against Israelis, including high-profile suicide bombings. He was arrested by Israel in 2006 and is serving multiple life sentences for terrorism and murder.
Meanwhile, reports in Egypt indicate “intense Egyptian-Qatari efforts” to negotiate a cease-fire in Gaza. However, Hamas has yet to give its approval for any deal, and no agreement has been finalized. Despite this, progress has been made, and Israeli officials note a willingness on both sides to move forward.