Hamas is pressing Israel to include prominent Palestinians in a prisoner-release list as part of a ceasefire deal that will also see hostages returned from Gaza.
This insistence from Hamas follows the Israeli justice ministry’s publication of a list of 250 prisoners slated for release, notably excluding seven high-profile figures, including Marwan Barghouti and Ahmad Saadat. These individuals are serving sentences for their involvement in deadly attacks within Israel and are widely seen by Palestinians as symbols of resistance.
Under the proposed agreement, brokered by US President Donald Trump, approximately twenty Israeli hostages are expected to be freed by Monday morning, marking the initial phase of the deal intended to end the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
A senior Palestinian official, speaking to the BBC, indicated that US envoy Steve Witkoff had committed to discussing the exclusion of these key prisoners with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. However, Israel has maintained a firm stance against their inclusion.
It remains uncertain whether this discrepancy will pose a significant obstacle or affect the planned timeline for the exchange of hostages from Gaza and Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli facilities.
The prisoner releases are structured into distinct phases of the ceasefire and hostage return agreement, which was approved this week to bring an end to the protracted conflict in Gaza.
There is ambiguity regarding the method of hostage release this time, as previous exchanges saw Hamas publicly display the hostages, a move that drew criticism from Israel and its international allies.
The agreement also includes the return of hostages who are deceased. It is estimated that at least 26 hostages have died, with the status of two others unknown.
Israel is also set to release around 250 Palestinian prisoners who are serving life sentences, in addition to an estimated 1,700 Palestinians from Gaza who are currently detained.
Hamas had initially proposed a list of prisoners for release that prominently featured Barghouti and Saadat.
Marwan Barghouti is currently serving multiple life sentences, handed down after his conviction in 2004 for orchestrating attacks that resulted in five civilian deaths.
Public opinion surveys consistently show Barghouti as the most popular Palestinian leader, with projections indicating he would win a presidential election against current Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas or Hamas leaders.
Barghouti holds a significant position within the Fatah faction, which leads the Palestinian Authority that governs certain areas of the West Bank not under Israeli occupation.
Ahmad Saadat, the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), received a 30-year sentence in 2008 for heading what Israel deemed a “terrorist organisation” and for his involvement in attacks, including the 2001 assassination of an Israeli minister.
Among the 250 prisoners scheduled for release is Iyad Abu al-Rub, a commander in Islamic Jihad convicted for masterminding suicide bombings in Israel that caused 13 fatalities in the early 2000s.
The Israeli justice ministry has stated that al-Rub will either be transferred to Gaza or deported to another country.
The BBC has learned that Hamas is also advocating for additional prisoner releases. This request pertains to Palestinian prisoners who were previously released in an exchange for Gilad Shalit years ago but were subsequently rearrested following the October 7th events.
Hamas contends that since these individuals were part of a prior hostage exchange, they should not be counted within the 250-prisoner quota.
Meanwhile, hospitals in Israel are making preparations for the arrival of the released hostages, as families eagerly await their return.
The initial phase of the Israel-Hamas agreement saw a ceasefire commence on Friday, with Israeli forces partially withdrawing from certain areas of Gaza. An increased flow of hundreds of aid trucks daily into Gaza is now anticipated, while further phases of negotiation are ongoing.
Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have begun returning to Gaza City from the southern part of the strip, weeks after fleeing an Israeli offensive that left much of the city in ruins.
Gaza’s Hamas-run civil defence agency has reported ongoing recovery operations, including the retrieval of bodies from rubble, as efforts continue to locate missing individuals across the territory.
The current conflict in Gaza was initiated by Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths and the abduction of 251 hostages.
Since then, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza reports that 67,682 Palestinians have been killed during Israel’s military operations.
Additional reporting by Mallory Moench