Zakaria Zubeidi, Mahmoud Atallah among notorious terrorists set for release Thursday

Israel has yet to name the 110 prisoners who will be freed in return for 3 hostages, though public broadcaster says 33 of them are serving life terms for deadly attacks

Zakaria Zubeidi, after being recaptured in northern Israel on September 11, 2021, following his escape from Gilboa Prison. (Courtesy)
Zakaria Zubeidi, after being recaptured in northern Israel on September 11, 2021, following his escape from Gilboa Prison. (Courtesy)

Israel is expected to free a number of high-profile terrorists in exchange for the three Israeli hostages slated for release on Thursday — Arbel Yehoud, Agam Berger and Gadi Mozes.

Among the 110 prisoners to be released are prominent terror convicts Zakaria Zubeidi, Mahmoud Atallah and Ahmed Barghouti, according to multiple media reports.

Zubeidi, who will return home to the West Bank, organized dozens of attacks during the Second Intifada while heading the al-Aqsa Martyr’s Brigades in Jenin. He was one of six prisoners who briefly escaped from Gilboa prison in 2021, before being recaptured.

Atallah, who is serving a life sentence for murdering a Palestinian woman suspected of collaborating with Israel, will be released to Nablus. He was indicted last September for repeatedly sexually assaulting female guards at Gilboa Prison.

Barghouti, a senior military official in Fatah, received 13 life sentences for carrying out a series of terror attacks during the Second Intifada that killed 12 Israelis. He will be deported abroad via Egypt.

Authorities have yet to give official information on the prisoners to be set freed on Thursday and Saturday, though the Kan public broadcaster said 33 of them are serving life terms for deadly attacks, 47 are serving long prison terms, and the remaining 30 are women and minors.

Palestinian security prisoner Mahmoud Atallah is accused of sexually assaulting and raping female IDF soldiers and guards at Gilboa Prison, in a scandal that alleges the women were ‘pimped’ out to Palestinian inmates. (Courtesy)

The Haaretz daily reported that among the other prisoners set to be released are Hamas operative Mohammed Abu Warda, who is serving 48 life sentences for masterminding multiple terror attacks, including a 1996 bombing on a bus in Jerusalem that killed 45 people; and Palestinian Islamic Jihad member Sami Jaradat, who was responsible for a 2003 bombing at a restaurant in Haifa that killed 21 people.

Both Abu Warda and Jaradat are expected to be sent to the Gaza Strip or Egypt.

The newspaper said that Ammar Mardi, a Jordanian member of Fatah involved in the 2001 killing of Yuri Gushchin near Ramallah, will be freed after refusing to board a bus to Gaza during the release of prisoners last weekend, though it remains unclear where he will go.

According to an Israel Prisons Service spokesperson, the prisoners will be transported to two main reception points, Ofer and Ktzi’ot prisons, before being released home or deported.

After the three Israeli hostages are confirmed to have returned, prisoners headed for the West Bank will be escorted by the Red Cross to a release point, and those being deported or released into Gaza will be escorted by the special Prison Service units to the Kerem Shalom Crossing.

No prisoners will be exchanged for the five Thai hostages who are also due to be freed, since they are being released under a separate agreement between Hamas and Thailand.

A bus transporting Palestinian prisoners leaves the Kziot prison in the Negev desert on January 25, 2025. (Gil Cohen-Magen / AFP)

Thursday’s exchange is part of the first phase of the ceasefire and hostage release agreement between Israel and Hamas that took effect on January 19, under which 50 prisoners are released for every soldier and 30 for each civilian. Israel freed 90 prisoners in return for three civilian hostages early last week, followed by 200 additional inmates — including 121 serving life sentences for terrorism — in exchange for four female soldiers on Saturday.

During the 42-day period, 33 Israeli captives held in Gaza are expected to be released in return for 1,904 Palestinian security prisoners, including 737 serving life terms. The other 1,167 are Palestinians detained during the IDF’s ground offensive who did not participate in the Hamas-led October 7 massacre that started the Gaza war.

Talks have yet to begin on the deal’s second stage, in which Hamas is expected to release young, relatively healthy male hostages, including soldiers, for whom the terrorist organization is likely to demand Israel pay a heavier price.

Hamas has promised the families of prominent terror convicts Marwan Barghouti and Ahmad Saadat that they will be released from Israeli prison in the second stage of the deal, Kan reported Tuesday, citing an unnamed Palestinian source involved in the negotiations.

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