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Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange

L: Freed hostage Emily Damari being prepped for surgery on her left hand at Sheba Medical Center on March 2, 2025, after she was shot on October 7, 2023, and not given proper medical care during 15 months of Hamas captivity in Gaza. (Pomi Ofi Tal); R: Hamas terrorist Nasr Ali Quneita, who held Damari captive in his home in Gaza, and was later killed in an Israeli airstrike in July 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
July 14, 2025, 4:56 pm
Hamas terrorist who invaded Israel, held Emily Damari hostage, killed in IDF airstrike
Damari: ‘Glad he is no longer,’ but ‘real victory’ will be when all 50 hostages are home; separate strike last week killed 10 Hamas terrorists freed in 2011’s Gilad Shalit deal
By Emanuel Fabian and Agencies
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee meets with Frimet and Arnold Roth at the US Embassy in Jerusalem on May 13, 2025. (Courtesy)
June 4, 2025, 3:27 pm
Parents of Sbarro bombing victim urge US to demand Hamas terrorist’s extradition
Ahlam Tamimi, who played central role in 2001 Jerusalem attack that killed 16 and injured 130, has lived freely in Jordan since her 2011 release
By Nava Freiberg
An Israeli protester holds a sign with bloody hands and Hebrew writing that reads, 'prison release form,' during a demonstration against a proposed release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office in Jerusalem, July 28, 2013. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)
January 22, 2025, 4:13 pm
As terrorists go free, Israel debates keeping enemies close or sending them far away
History shows dangers and possible benefits of setting killers loose in West Bank or Gaza, but also points to risks that come with exiling terror leaders beyond Israel’s reach
By Amir Bar Shalom
Hamas terrorist Nael Barghouti waves a green Islamic flag and a Palestinian flag to the crowd after arriving in the West Bank city of Ramallah after he was released as part of an exchange for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held by Hamas, October 18, 2011. (AP/Majdi Mohammed)
January 21, 2025, 9:31 pm
Deal will see release of longest-serving Palestinian inmate, who murdered bus driver
Nael Barghouti, 67, to be deported; spent 33 years in prison, was released under a previous prisoner swap in 2011, then reincarcerated for returning to terror activities
By Reuters and ToI Staff
Paramedics and police at the scene of a Palestinian suicide-bombing that killed 19 and injuring 74 on a bus in Jerusalem, June 18, 2002. (Flash90)
January 20, 2025, 4:43 pm
Convicted terrorists to be released are ‘an open wound’ for victims’ families
While many support any effort to bring home live hostages, some bereaved family members call for a terrorist death penalty in order to halt the cycle of hostage release deals
By Gavriel Fiske
Freed Palestinian security prisoner Ateya Abu Moussa, held by Israel for 20 years, is greeted by his relatives and friends upon arrival at his family's house in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Aug. 14, 2013. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)
January 17, 2025, 12:16 pm
For many Israelis, prospect of hostage release is tempered by concerns about freeing terrorists
Supporters of the Gaza accord often acknowledge it is a ‘bad deal,’ yet one they vehemently believe Israel must accept in order to be true to its values
By Deborah Danan
Illustrative - Troops of the 401st Armored Brigade operate in southern Gaza's Rafah, in a handout image published May 29, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
May 31, 2024, 8:50 pm
Israel says it killed 18 Gaza-based Hamas members in charge of West Bank attacks
Shin Bet security agency says terror cell, primarily made up of prisoners exiled to Strip in 2011 Shalit deal, planned multiple attacks between 2022-2023 in which 8 were murdered
By Emanuel Fabian
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, December 16, 2023. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)
December 17, 2023, 1:25 am
Pointing to Hamas’s ‘little state,’ Netanyahu touts his role blocking 2-state solution
Prime minister reiterates rejection of PA taking control of Gaza after war, hinting that US plan is an ‘illusion’ and claiming he may be able to bring Washington around
By Jeremy Sharon and ToI Staff
IDF troops operate inside Gaza during the ongoing ground offensive against Hamas, in a picture released November 22, 2023. (IDF Spokesman)
November 23, 2023, 1:46 pm
Hostage deal, even if it fails, shows Hamas’s desperation
The exchange rate for an Israeli hostage is no longer measured in hundreds of released prisoners but in moments of reprieve from looming destruction
By Haviv Rettig Gur
The High Court of Justice hears petitions against the government's incapacitation law, September 28, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
November 22, 2023, 6:05 pm
High Court rejects petition that sought to delay hostage release deal
Almagor terror victims group argued that the agreement repeats the mistakes of the 2011 Shalit deal, but justices rule only the government has authority in such policy decisions
By Jeremy Sharon
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir attends a National Security Committee meeting at the Knesset, November 20, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
November 21, 2023, 12:21 pm
Ben Gvir warns against ‘disaster’ of a hostage deal, slams ‘idiocy’ of war cabinet
As likely deal to free women and children nears, far-right minister points to release of Hamas leader Sinwar in 2011 Gilad Shalit deal as example of prisoner exchange ending badly
By ToI Staff
An Israeli soldier flashes a V-sign from an armoured personnel carrier (APC) as they head towards the Gaza Strip border in southern Israel, Oct. 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
October 14, 2023, 2:50 pm
IDF kills two Hamas commanders in Gaza involved in murderous attack on south
Ahead of expected ground operation, military says evacuation corridor open for residents of northern Gaza, hundreds of thousands fled south; IDF says will attack with ‘great force’
By Emanuel Fabian and ToI Staff
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv, October 8, 2023. (Amos Ben Gershom/ GPO)
October 8, 2023, 11:54 pm
By abducting over 100 people into Gaza, Hamas has put Netanyahu in a political bind
PM previously freed over 1,000 Palestinian inmates for one IDF soldier; now he must deal with some 130 civilian hostages and with far-right partners who won’t agree to mass release
By Agencies and ToI Staff
File: Families of Abera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed hold a press conference calling for the release of the two Israeli citizens from Hamas captivity, on September 6, 2018. (Hadas Parush/FLASH90)
January 3, 2023, 6:09 pm
Comptroller slams undefined role of Israeli negotiator for release of Gaza captives
Matanyahu Englman says PMO never detailed post’s responsibilities, has only ‘minimal’ information about work done; captive’s relative says meeting had been ‘void of content’
By Emanuel Fabian
Hamas terrorist Nael Barghouti waves a green Islamic flag and a Palestinian flag to the crowd after arriving in the West Bank city of Ramallah after he was released as part of an exchange for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held by Hamas, October 18, 2011. (AP/Majdi Mohammed)
December 6, 2022, 4:09 pm
Court: Senior Hamas member released in Shalit exchange will serve out life sentence
Nael Barghouti, who was freed in 2011 after serving 33 years and then rearrested in 2014, now found to have violated original release terms
By Emanuel Fabian
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