Israel okays 50 female prisoners for possible release during extended Gaza truce
2 women convicted, and 1 accused, of attempted murder are on list; activist Ahed Tamimi also may be set free; 33 freed women, underaged male prisoners arrive in Ramallah overnight
Israel approved a new list of security prisoners to be potentially released in exchange for hostages held by terrorists in the Gaza Strip, following the overnight release of 33 prisoners under the terms of a four-day ceasefire deal that saw 11 Israeli hostages held by Hamas set free from the Gaza Strip on Monday.
The agreement was extended by two days on Monday, Qatar and the US confirmed, as did the Palestinian terror group Hamas.
There was no official word from Israel, but the government on Monday approved the names of 50 additional female prisoners who could be considered for release if Hamas frees 20 more Israeli hostages in the coming days.
Some of the prisoners on the list are Israeli citizens.
Among the names listed for potential release is that of Ahed Tamimi, 22, a prominent Palestinian activist who was arrested earlier this month for incitement after posting on social media that Palestinians will “slaughter” settlers and “drink your blood.”
Tamimi became an icon of the Palestinian cause after she was jailed as a teenager for slapping an Israeli soldier.
Half of the prisoners on the list are Israeli citizens, and most of those 25 were arrested in October or November for incitement to terror and praising terror. But two have been convicted of attempted murder, and one is detained on that charge.
Shatila Abu Aida, from Kafr Qasim in central Israel, is serving a 16-year sentence for attempted murder after she stabbed a woman in Rosh Ha’ayin in 2016 in a terror attack, and Nawal Abd Fatiha, from East Jerusalem, was convicted of attempted murder for stabbing a Jewish man in the Armon Hanatziv neighborhood in 2020.
Asma Abu Takfa, 31 from Rahat, was indicted in April for planning to carry out a stabbing attack in Jerusalem.
Many of the prisoners are affiliated with Hamas, Fatah, or the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, but some have no known affiliations with any terror groups.
The oldest woman on the new list is Suhir Ismail Musa Barghouti, 64, a Hamas member from the West Bank, who has been held since October 26 on unspecified suspicions. The youngest member of the list is Aden Odeh Ibrahim Altori, a 16-year-old from the West Bank who is being held for allegedly supporting terror and for incitement.
The Prime Minister’s Office said in a brief statement Monday night that the government okayed the list of additional 50 names “should additional Israeli hostages be released.”
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The new list brings to 350 the number of Palestinian prisoners selected for possible early release as part of the agreement.
On Monday night, 11 Israeli hostages — nine children and two mothers — were the last group of a total of 50 Israelis freed in the initial agreement with Hamas in exchange for a four-day lull in fighting and the release of a total of 150 underage or female Palestinian prisoners.
The Israeli hostages have been held in Gaza since October 7, when terrorists stormed into southern Israel, where they slaughtered some 1,200 people — most of them civilians massacred in their homes and at a music festival — and kidnapped some 240.
In the West Bank city of Ramallah early Tuesday, a Red Cross bus carrying the 33 Palestinian prisoners released by Israel as part of the deal was greeted by cheering crowds who surrounded the vehicle as it made its way through the streets of the city.
Many in the crowd waved Hamas flags, as seen in images and footage from the celebrations.
The Times of Israel Community.