From the Liveblog of
Monday, October 13, 2025
Israel says it has freed all 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including 250 lifetermers, as part of still-unfinished hostage deal
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleAll Palestinian prisoners to be freed under the US-backed hostage deal have been released from Israeli prisons, an IDF spokesperson tells The Times of Israel.
The prisoners include 250 terror convicts serving one or more life sentences, as well as 1,718 Gazan detainees arrested over the course of the war.
Israel had initially said it would wait until all hostages had been released, but instead decided to free the prisoners after all 20 living hostages were freed this morning but before Hamas handed over the bodies of 28 hostages believed to be dead.
Palestinian media outlets publish footage showing the arrival of prisoners released in the hostage deal and permitted to return to the West Bank arriving in Ramallah. Palestinian Authority security forces can be seen moving people away from the area to allow buses to pass.
عاجل| الأسرى المحررون بصفقة التبادل يصلون رام الله الآن. pic.twitter.com/6Fpr1Se1hH
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) October 13, 2025
Some of the 250 security prisoners released will be deported abroad or sent back to Gaza, as they are originally from the Strip. According to Palestinian reports, 88 prisoners are being released to the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The Times of Israel Community.