Deal’s Price: Marwan Barghouti Won’t Be Released, But Ramallah Lynchers Will Be

The four high-profile terrorists Hamas had pushed to include in the ceasefire exchange — Marwan Barghouti, Ahmad Saadat, Abbas al-Sayyid, and Hassan Salameh — have been removed from the final list of prisoners set for release under the agreement that took effect early Friday morning.

Also excluded from the deal are Hakim Awad, the terrorist who brutally murdered five members of the Fogel family in 2011 and is serving five life sentences, and Mahmoud Atallah, who assaulted female prison guards.

The finalized roster of those to be freed includes a number of notorious figures — several of them individuals who were previously released in past prisoner swaps and later re-arrested for renewed terrorist activity during the current Gaza conflict.

Among those expected to be freed are perpetrators of the 2000 Ramallah lynching, one of the most shocking and savage terror attacks in Israel’s history. The list also names Baher Dar, serving 11 life sentences for orchestrating the 2004 Tzrifin suicide bombing and other deadly attacks in Tel Aviv.

One of the prisoners to be released is a terrorist who had been freed in the Gilad Shalit deal but was later captured again at Gaza’s Shifa Hospital after returning to terrorist activity.

Also on the list is Ibrahim Alikem, the terrorist who ambushed and murdered Ita Tzur and her 12-year-old son Efrayim near Ramallah in 1996. He had already served a life sentence before being re-arrested roughly a decade later.

Fares Ghanem, sentenced to nine life terms for eight murders, will also be among those released. Joining him are the kidnapper and killer of Israeli civilian Yuri Gushchin and Atiyah Abu Samhadga, who raped and murdered a Jewish woman.

Other names slated for release include Jafar Al-Zaatari, a senior Hamas operative responsible for organizing multiple suicide bombings; the murderer of Dalia Lemkus; and Iyem Kammamji, who was arrested in 2006 for his role in the kidnapping and murder of Eliyahu Asheri and later escaped from Gilboa Prison in 2021. Another, Hussein Jawadrah, was convicted for killing IDF soldier Eden Attias when he was just 16.

Riyad Al-Amour, a top Tanzim commander convicted of killing nine Israeli civilians and soldiers — among them Brigadier-General Yehuda Edri — as well as three Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel, will also be freed.

In addition, the deal includes Nabil Abu Hadir, who murdered his sister, and the Tanzim chief in Tulkarm, implicated in dozens of shootings and bombings.

Also expected to go free is the terrorist responsible for the 2002 Neve Yaakov attack that left policewoman Galit Arviv dead and eight others wounded, along with those who murdered Shin Bet coordinator Haim Nachmani, and the handlers behind the Carmel Market suicide bomber. The list further includes Iyad Abu Al-Rub, the former head of Islamic Jihad’s military wing in Jenin.

Notably, the agreement also covers several Israeli Arab terrorists. Among them is the perpetrator of the 2002 Line 20 Jerusalem bus bombing that killed 11 Israelis. Others include Emad Shahada, who raped and murdered a teenage girl; Arafat Zeer, who planned the At-Taniel suicide attack; and Iman Kurd, sentenced to 35 years for stabbing two police officers in 2016.

Additional prisoners set to be released are Ahmad Mahmoud Ali Ka’abna, who murdered Hagit Zavitzky and Liat Kastiel; senior Hamas official Hamdallah Ali, released in the Shalit deal and later recaptured at Shifa Hospital; and Hazam Awad, a senior Fatah operative tied to multiple deadly terror plots.

Also being released are Taleb Mahamrah, a senior Fatah member convicted of killing five Israelis and several Palestinians, as well as Ismail Hamdan and Adnan Abi’at, head of the Tanzim branch in Bethlehem. Included too is Musa Safen, who murdered his own mother for marrying a Jewish man, and the killer of Chief Sergeant Moshe Dayan.

The list further names Nader Abu Turki, previously freed in the Shalit swap and later recruited a suicide bomber before carrying out a shooting attack. After his earlier release, he served as a key liaison between Hamas leadership in Turkey and operatives in Judea and Samaria — and notably, he will not be deported under the new deal. Also being freed are Ahmad Siyag, who stabbed a female soldier four years ago, and Zaid Ghanidi, who led a Chevron-based terror cell recently uncovered by the Shin Bet.

{Matzav.com}