Number of prisoners released in Shalit deal who returned to terror now stands at 100

They have been imprisoned by Israel again, prompting Hamas to demand their release in future prisoner exchanges.

By World Israel News Staff 

Former Palestinian terrorists freed by Israel in a 2011 deal in exchange for the release of an abducted Israeli soldier continue to return to anti-Israel activity.

Israel released more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, including hundreds serving life sentences for attacks on Israelis, in order to gain freedom for Gilad Shalit who had been captured by Hamas in 2006.

Though the released prisoners supposedly renounced terror activity, dozens have not lived up to that commitment, including some who have been involved in subsequent attacks in which Israelis have been murdered.

They have been imprisoned by Israel again, prompting Hamas to demand their release in future prisoner exchanges.

According to a report Sunday on the Arutz Sheva website, citing IDF figures, 56 additional Palestinians have recently broken the terms of their release and 53 of them are back in jail serving the rest of the term which had been deducted as a result of the prisoner swap.

In all, says the report, some 100 of the released prisoners have acted against Israeli state security, have stood trial in Israeli military courts on new charges, and were also forced to serve the remainder of their previous prison sentence.

On June 25, 2006, Palestinians attacked Schalit’s tank that was defending the security fence near the southern Gaza Strip. The terrorists had crossed the border using an underground tunnel dug near the Kerem Shalom crossing.

During the attack, the tank commander, First Lt. Hanan Barak, and another soldier in the tank, Staff Sgt. Pavel Slotzker, were killed. Four of the soldiers at the post were injured. The terrorists abducted Schalit into Gaza, using the same tunnel through which they had entered Israel.

After the abduction, the Schalit family and a strong core of supporters launched a campaign to gain Gilad’s release. More than five years later, the deal was completed.

Some warned against the deal at the time. Louis Rene Beres, a professor of international law, even argued that it violated international legal norms. “No modern government has the legal right to free terrorists in exchange for its own kidnapped citizens, military or civilian,” he wrote in The Jerusalem Post shortly before Schalit was to be released.

Upon his release, Schalit was welcomed to freedom by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The IDF chief of staff at the time was Benny Gantz.

Prime Minister Netanyahu and Knesset Member Gantz are now political rivals, with their parties each gaining the largest number of seats in last month’s Knesset election.

Gilad Schalit