Qatar, Turkey to host Palestinian murder convicts released in hostage deal — officials

Qatar and Turkey are slated to host the Palestinian murder convicts who were released and subsequently deported to Egypt as part of the hostage and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, two officials tell The Times of Israel.

Israel demanded that the Palestinians convicted of the most serious crimes not be released to Gaza or the West Bank. Egypt agreed to serve as a temporary landing spot for those murder convicts, 70 of whom were released last week and are now reside in Cairo.

Turkey has agreed to take in around 15 of those Palestinians and Qatar is expected to take in the remainder, though talks are ongoing and an additional country may be asked to host some of the prisoners deported later on in the deal, according to a regional official and an Arab diplomat familiar with the matter.

The decision on where to send the various Palestinian murder convicts is done in coordination with Israel, the two officials say.