Israel to free 602 terrorists as part of ceasefire

Of the 602 terrorists to be released this week, 108 are expected to be deported to Egypt before being moved to other countries from there.

By Akiva Van Koningsveld, JNS

Israel is set to commute the sentences of 602 imprisoned terrorists this week as part of the last two releases of the first phase of its ceasefire agreement with Hamas, Hebrew media reported on Thursday.

In accordance with the deal, the bodies of four hostages were returned to the Jewish state on Thursday morning.

The remains are said to be those of Shiri Bibas (32 when captured on Oct. 7, 2023) and her sons, Ariel (4 when taken) and Kfir (9 months old when taken), as well as of Oded Lifshitz (83 when taken).

Six living hostages are scheduled to be released on Saturday.

Of the prisoners to be released by Israel this week, 445—residents of the Gaza Strip who were arrested by Israeli forces after the Oct. 7 massacre—are set to be freed later on Thursday.

The remaining 157 terrorists are to be released after the six hostages return to Israeli territory on Saturday. This figure includes 50 terrorists who were serving life sentences, 60 with long sentences and 47 who were released in a 2011 deal with Hamas and later rearrested.

Of the 602 terrorists to be released this week, 108 are expected to be deported to Egypt before being moved to other countries from there.

Among those scheduled for release is Khalil Jabarin, who murdered dual U.S.-Israeli citizen Ari Fuld at Judea’s Gush Etzion Junction in 2018.

Another is Omar al-Zaban, a senior operative in Hamas’s “military wing” serving 27 life sentences plus 25 years for his role in attacks that claimed the lives of at least 27 people.

Bilal Abu-Ghanem is serving three life sentences for the 2015 murder of Haviv Haim, 78, Alon Govberg, 51, and Richard Lakin, 76, on bus 78 in Jerusalem’s Armon Hanatziv area.

Also to be released is Nael Barghouti, convicted of murdering of Israeli bus driver Mordechai Yekuelin, 27, in January 1978. He was released in the 2011 Shalit deal but rearrested after once again engaging in terrorist activity.

Abed el-Nasser Isa—widely considered to be a student of infamous Hamas bomb-maker Yahya Ayyash—is also to be released.

In the current first phase of the truce, Hamas has agreed to free 33 hostages, while Israel agreed to commute the sentences of some 2,000 terrorists.