Israel must release more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners during an initial 42-day ceasefire period, starting on Sunday with at least 90 in exchange for three Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, according to the terms of the deal.
The Israelis say that most of the prisoners are terrorists and murderers. Many Palestinians see the imprisoned militants as freedom fighters against the Israeli regime, and they argue that others have been imprisoned by an unfair Israeli military justice system.
Here are some of the most prominent Palestinian prisoners to be released as part of the ceasefire, according to Israel's Ministry of Justice.
Zakaria Zubeydi
For the past two decades, Zakaria Zubeidi, 49, has been a militant, theater director and escaped prisoner whose escape stunned Israelis and Palestinians alike.
Mr. Zubeidi rose to prominence as a militant leader during the Second Intifada, or uprising, in the early 2000s, when Palestinian militants carried out deadly attacks against Israelis, including kamikaze attacks targeting civilian neighborhoods.
Israel responded by reoccupying major Palestinian cities during street battles. Some of the fiercest fighting took place in the Palestinian city of Jenin, Mr. Zubeidi's hometown. He later emerged as the top commander of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed militia with close ties to the secular Fatah party, the ruling Palestinian political faction in the West Bank.
After the uprising, Mr. Zubeydi a The theater inside Jen's refugee camp. In 2019, Israel arrested him, accusing him of returning to militancy.
Two years later, Mr. Zubeidi and five other Palestinian prisoners performed a jailbreak Crawling about 32 yards through an underground tunnel outside one of Israel's maximum security prisons. Although they were later recaptured, the security breach shocked the Israelis and alarmed the Palestinians.
In September, an Israeli drone strike killed Mr. Zubeidi's son, Mohammed. The Israeli military called his son a “significant terrorist” and said he was involved in shooting at Israeli soldiers.
Wissam Abbasi, Mohammad Odeh and Wael Qassim
Wissam Abbasi, 48, Mohammad Odeh, 52, and Wael Ghassim, 54, were arrested in 2002 on charges of orchestrating Hamas attacks against Israelis during the Second Intifada. According to the Israeli Ministry of Justice, three people were sentenced to life in prison for murder and a number of other crimes.
According to contemporary Israeli media, the men are among those convicted several times Participates in the Hamas cell in Jerusalem It was responsible for a series of explosions in crowded civilian areas that killed more than 30 Israelis.
Among the attacks was the explosion by Hamas at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which killed nine peopleIncluding four US citizens, according to Israeli authorities.
Mr. Odeh, who works as an artist at the university, placed the bomb in the cafeteria and covered it with a newspaper. “The New York Times” newspaper reported on thisreports with reference to Israeli officials. As he left, he set off the explosives remotely with a cellphone, officials said.
According to the Israeli Ministry of Justice, under the terms of the ceasefire agreement, the men will not be allowed to return to their homes in Jerusalem. They will be required to live in exile, although it is unclear where they will be allowed to go.