Israel's Cabinet has decided to release 50 women and children held captive by Hamas in exchange for freeing 150 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons. The Ministry of Justice has published a potential list of nearly 300 prisoners eligible for release. The swapping process will unfold in stages over four days, with no one convicted of murder set to be freed. However, those imprisoned for attempted murder, terrorist activities, or lesser offenses like stone-throwing, firebombing, or firearm possession might be released.
The list includes individuals affiliated with Hamas, Fatah, Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Many arrested individuals acted on their own initiatives, while some remained unprosecuted or are presently under administrative detention - meaning indefinite detention without trial. Various residents of East Jerusalem also appear on the list.
Most of the potential releases are minors under 18, with five being as young as 14. Their alleged actions led to unrest in occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. The list also includes several female prisoners like Palestinian Misoun Mussa, who attacked an Israeli soldier with a knife in 2015, and Marah Bakeer, convicted for a knife attack on an Israeli border policeman in 2016.
The agreement permits the exchange of all 300 prisoners for future hostage releases, pending objection from relatives of terror victim survivors. The New York Times reported a rise in the number of young Palestinians imprisoned in Israel following the October 2023 massacres, with approximately 200 teenagers in Israeli prisons and over 70 women held.
It should be noted that the ceasefire agreement, including hostage releases and prisoner exchanges, was part of an ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas since October 2023. The specific details and crimes of the minors are not extensively discussed in the provided sources, but their inclusion in the potential list signifies a significant aspect of the agreement.
