Draft of ceasefire deal lays out timeline for Palestinian prisoner release – report

Israel will let Palestinian prisoners go free only after a 72-hour period during which Hamas is meant to release all Israeli hostages, according to a draft of today’s ceasefire and hostage-release deal viewed by Channel 12.

But as long as dead hostages remain in Gaza, then a different, classified response — which will be presented to Israel’s cabinet — will take effect, according to the report. Israel anticipates that Hamas may not be able to locate all of the dead hostages.

The cabinet is due to meet shortly to ratify the deal.

If the Palestinian prisoner release moves ahead, 250 security prisoners serving life sentences will be released, along with 1,700 Gazans who were arrested since the October 7, 2023, attack but were not involved in it. They will be exiled abroad or sent to Gaza. Some 22 minors who also did not participate in the October 7 attack will be set free.

Details of which of the “heavyweight” Palestinian terrorists and terror chiefs are to be freed have not been made public. A Channel 12 report reiterates the claim that Second Intifada Fatah Tanzim leader Marwan Barghouti will not be released. It highlights that Hamas has also been demanding the release of five other notorious figures — Abdullah Barghouti, Ahmad Sa’adat, Ibrahim Hamed, Abbas al-Sayed and Hassan Salameh — and says that the final result of negotiations over these five is not yet known.

In addition, some 360 bodies of terrorists will be handed over to Hamas.

The hostage release is due to take place after IDF forces withdraw to new lines in Gaza, within 24 hours of Israel ratifying the deal.