Israel won’t release Sinwar bodies or Bargouthi, but could be forced to free terrorist ‘more dangerous than Sinwar’

The Israeli government on Friday published the list of almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners who are set to be released in exchange for the 48 Israeli hostages who are still in Hamas captivity in Gaza.

The prisoners to be released reportedly will not include the most prominent Palestinian inmate, Marwan Barghouti, and, despite prior reports to the contrary, also not a terrorist described as even more dangerous than the slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

The bodies of Sinwar and his brother, Mohammed, will reportedly not be handed over to Hamas either.

However, the list includes several notorious terrorists, including Iyad Abu al-Rub, a commander of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) responsible for orchestrating and several terror attacks, that killed 13 Israelis.

Alongside him, Muhammad Zakarneh, a Fatah terrorist who planned an attack that murdered Grigory Raginovich in 2009, and Muhammad Abu al-Rub, who stabbed and killed Reuven Shmerling in 2017, will be set free.

On Thursday, the Israeli Defense Ministry began notifying the family members of Israeli victims of the hundreds of convicted terrorists who are set to be freed.

Under the agreement, Israel committed to release 250 terrorists with “blood on their hands,” along with some 1,700 Palestinians who were detained by the military amid operations in Gaza over the course of the war, often in buildings belonging to or used by Hamas. In addition, Israel will release 360 bodies of terrorists.

During Thursday night’s Cabinet meeting, debate arose over the list of prisoners, with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir reportedly causing a significant delay in the proceedings by vetoing certain names.

Israeli media outlets cited a senior Shin Bet official – only identified by his first letter, M. – who took part in the talks in Sharm el-Sheikh, saying, “I haven’t spent my whole life in the hostages and missing persons team. No one needs to explain to me who these terrorists are and how dangerous they are.”

“We’re the ones who hunted them down for years and put them in prison. That’s why we went over each and every name on the list. We fully understand the cost – but this deal is the right thing to do at this time,” M. argued.

On Friday morning, the Israeli government approved last-minute changes proposed by the mediators. Eleven Fatah-affiliated prisoners were reportedly removed from the list of those slated for release, replacing them with 11 Hamas-affiliated prisoners. Two of them are serving two-year sentences, while the others are serving life sentences.

Among them will be Mahmoud Issa, who has been sitting in prison since 1993 for his involvement in the abduction and murder of Israeli citizen Nissim Toledano, The Times of Israel reported.

The Defense Ministry said, “We stand with the bereaved families during these difficult days. Professional personnel and rehabilitation representatives from the National Insurance Institute, casualty officers from the IDF’s Manpower Directorate, and representatives from the Defense Ministry’s Department for Families, Commemoration, and Heritage will accompany the families in the coming period.”

Israel’s Channel 12 News reported that any terrorists who were involved in serious crimes will be deported abroad or released in Gaza, but will not be allowed to enter Israel or Judea and Samaria.

Such criminal offenses include murder, manufacturing weapons used in murder, involvement in organizing a deadly attack, or dispatching a terrorist who carried out a murder.

On Thursday, the Israeli government confirmed that Marwan Barghouti, who is considered the most popular Palestinian leader and a possible candidate to succeed Mahmoud Abbas as president of the Palestinian Authority, will not be freed.

The 66-year-old terrorist has been serving five life sentences plus 40 years since 2002, for his lead role in planning terror attacks that killed five Israelis during the Second Intifada.

An Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post that, in addition to Barghouti, arch-terrorists Ahmad Sa’adat, Hassan Salameh, and Abbas al-Sayed – whose release Hamas has long demanded – will also not be released.

There were contradictory reports on whether Israel’s “most dangerous prisoner,” former Hamas military leader in the West Bank, Ibrahim Hamed, would be released. However, the list published on Friday did not include his name.

Captured in 2006 after a years-long manhunt, Hamed was convicted as the principal planner of several suicide bombings that killed 46 people and wounded over 400 others.

Security sources told Ynet News that Hamed “is a person with the capabilities of Sinwar and beyond,” referring to the slain Hamas leader who orchestrated the October 7 massacre.

Yahya Sinwar also served years in Israeli prisons before being released as part of the Shalit prisoner exchange in 2011, after which he rapidly ascended to become Hamas’ overall leader.

However, at the time of Sinwar's release, Israel refused to include Hamed in that deal as he was viewed as being the main architect of the suicide-bomb campaign during the Second Intifada, responsible for over 90% of the attacks.