Palestinians welcome home terrorists released in exchange for Israeli hostages

Palestinians celebrate in Ramallah as convicted terrorists given early release as part of the hostage release deal.

By Susan Tawil, World Israel News

To the cheers of a hero’s welcome, groups of Palestinian convicts have been returned to their homes in Ramallah, beginning last Friday, as part of a deal to obtain release of the Israeli hostages.

Caving to international pressure, Israel agreed to release three Palestinian terrorists from prison for each Israeli hostage being held captive in Gaza.

The 245 Israelis were abducted by Hamas during its murderous surprise incursion into sleeping Israeli communities on the morning of October 7. The hostages taken include men, women, and children, from babies to the elderly.

The kidnapped have been held in captivity for over a month and a half, with no investigation as to their condition by outside sources such as the International Red Cross.

A deal was struck to grant a ceasefire in Gaza for four days while an initial 50 of the hostages would be released, with an additional day of ceasefire for the return of each additional group of ten hostages. Hundreds of trucks of fuel and humanitarian aid are also being sent into Gaza during this period of truce. Furthermore, the agreement stipulated the release of three Palestinian terrorists for each Israeli captive to be freed.

The terrorists released are women and teenagers, who were arrested for any crime short of actual murder. So far, the release terrorists have included those convicted of crimes ranging from attempted murder to throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails.

One of the convicted children, Omar Atshan, 17, was released Sunday, and returned to his home in Ramallah, north of Jerusalem.

Ramallah is one of eight major Palestinian enclaves under the control of the Palestinian Authority.

Atshan, who was arrested for opening fire on Israelis, was welcomed home with the other released prisoners by an exuberant crowd of hundreds who shouted chants praising Hamas and terrorism.

As Atshan hugged his mother, she screeched: “With our soul and our blood, we will redeem you, Hamas!” The celebrants took up the cry as they carried the convicts on their shoulders.

Another of the security prisoners, Israa Jaabis, 38, is an example of the women being released by Israel in the hostage deal. Jaabis was returned to her home in eastern Jerusalem on November 26.

She is an attempted suicide bomber, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison for detonating a gas cylinder at an IDF checkpoint in 2015 and wounding a police officer.

Alaa Abu Sanima, one of the convicts released on Sunday, had declared that he wanted to remain in the Israeli jail rather than return to his home in Gaza.

While imprisoned, Alaa has been receiving a salary from the Palestinian Authority under their insidious “Pay to Slay” program. Now that he is free, he must forfeit his stipend.

About a quarter of the Arab terrorists freed or set to be released in exchange for the hostages are residents of Jerusalem.

The remainder live in the Palestinian Authority (such as Jericho, Bethlehem, and Nablus).

Israeli captives in GazaPalestinian terrorRamallah