Criminal who raped, murdered teen boy in 1989 to be freed as part of Gaza deal
Ahmed Mahmed Jameel Shahada, who killed 13-year-old Oren Baharami, included on list despite not being considered terrorist. Boy’s mother: ‘Very hard for me to process this’
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
A Palestinian prisoner convicted of the 1989 rape and murder of an Israeli teenager was set to be released from prison Monday as part of the ceasefire and hostage release deal, the Haaretz daily reported, despite the court ruling at the time that the crime was not an act of terrorism.
In April 1989, 13-year-old Oren Baharami, from Bat Yam in central Israel, was lured to an abandoned room in the Armenian Monastery in Jaffa by Gaza resident Ahmed Mahmed Jameel Shahada.
Shahada and an accomplice then raped and murdered the teen and left his body in the monastery, where it was found days later.
The murder was deemed to have been criminally motivated, meaning that it was not an act of terror carried out for nationalistic reasons, and Shahada was sentenced to life in prison. According to Haaretz, he was due for release in 2036.
Despite not being charged with terrorism, the report said that Shahada was deemed eligible for release under the ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas.
In total Israel was set to release nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including 250 serving life terms, 1,722 Gazans, including 22 minors, captured amid the war but uninvolved in the October 7 massacre, and the remains of 360 Gazans. Of these 250 life-term prisoners, 115 were to return to their homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, while another 135 were to be deported to locations abroad, which could include Gaza.
דיווח מעיתון חדשות באפריל 89' (של הכתבים @shimon_elkabez ויוסי ורטר) עם תמונה של אורן בהראמי בן ה-13 ואמו קטי שאמרה שם: "מאסר עולם זה לא מספיק".
הרוצח שחאדה פיתה את אורן במהלך דיג בנמל יפו לבוא עמו למנזר סמוך, שם התעלל בו ורצח אותו. pic.twitter.com/cKrIdSHxrO— Josh Breiner (@JoshBreiner) October 12, 2025
The report noted that on the list of prisoners serving a life sentence to be freed, Shahada is the only prisoner without any known link to a terror organization.
Speaking to the news outlet, Baharami’s mother said she was struggling to understand the decision to release her son’s murderer.
“The murder wasn’t recognized as terrorism, and over the years, no one ever updated us,” she said. “It takes my breath away.”
“”It’s a shock to me – I never imagined he would be included in the deal,” she said. “It’s very hard for me to process this.”
The Times of Israel Community.