Palestinians linked to suicide bombings and attempted murders are among the 369 released Saturday by Israel in its latest exchange for hostages captured by Hamas.
Thirty-six of the detainees were serving out life sentences in Israeli prisons, but only 12 of them were allowed to return to their homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The other 24 are being sent to exile.
Those released Saturday were wearing white sweatshirts given to them by the Israeli Prison Service upon their release, emblazoned with a Star of David, the Prison Service logo and the phrase “Never forgive, never forget” written in Arabic on the front and back, according to the Associated Press. A video later posted on X purportedly showed those sweatshirts being burned.
Among those that returned to the West Bank were Ibrahim and Musa Sarahneh, who served more than 22 years in prison for their involvement in suicide bombings that killed a number of Israelis during the second intifada, a Palestinian uprising against Israel in the early 2000s.
AMERICAN-ISRAELI HOSTAGE RELEASED BY HAMAS EMBRACES HIS WIFE, FAMILY AFTER BEING APART FOR NEARLY 500 DAYS
Ahmed Barghouti, right, and his fiancé await his sentencing in a military court near Ramallah in the West Bank on July 30, 2003. He ultimately received 13 life sentences for dispatching gunmen who killed 12 Israelis during the second intifada. Barghouti was among the Palestinian prisoners released by Israel on Saturday, Feb. 15. (Reuters/Gil Cohen Magen/JDP)
Their other brother, Khalil Sarahneh, who was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to life in 2002, was sent to Egypt.
Hassan Aweis, who also was sentenced to life in 2002 on charges of voluntary manslaughter, planting an explosive device and attempted murder, according to Israel’s Justice Ministry, was among the few released prisoners welcomed by joyous crowds in Ramallah.
He was involved in planning attacks during the second intifada for the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, the AP reported.
The group, which is designated by the U.S. as a foreign terrorist organization, was “formed in late 2000 during the second intifada as a militant wing of the West Bank’s Fatah political faction” and “seeks to drive Israeli military forces and settlers from Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip and establish a Palestinian state,” according to the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
A crowd burns the shirts worn by freed Palestinian prisoners in Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, Feb. 15. (AP/Abdel Kareem Hana)
HAMAS FREES 3 MORE HOSTAGES IN EXCHANGE FOR MORE THAN 300 PRISONERS
Hassan Aweis’s brother, Abdel Karim Aweis, whom Israel’s Justice Ministry said was sentenced to the equivalent of six life sentences for charges including throwing an explosive device, attempted murder and assault, was transferred to Egypt.
Ahmed Barghouti was also sent to Egypt on Saturday. Barghouti, who once was a commander in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, was given a life sentence for dispatching assailants and suicide bombers to carry out attacks that killed Israeli civilians during the second intifada.
Freed Palestinian prisoners are greeted by a crowd in Khan Younis as they arrive in the Gaza Strip after being released from an Israeli prison on Saturday, Feb. 15. (AP/Jehad Alshrafi)
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Barghouti is a close aide of Marwan Barghouti, a popular Fatah leader who remains in Israeli custody.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
