Gaza ceasefire between Israel and Hamas approaches: live updates

Here are some of the most prominent Palestinian prisoners scheduled to be released under the ceasefire, according to the Israeli Ministry of Justice.

Zakaria Zubeidi

For the past two decades, Zakaria Zubeidi, 49, has been a militant, theater director and escaped prisoner who has shocked Israelis and Palestinians alike.

Zubeidi rose to fame as an extremist leader during the second intifada (uprising) in the early 2000s, during which Palestinian extremists carried out attacks against Israelis, including suicide bombings targeting civilian streets. carried out a deadly attack.

Israel responded by reoccupying major Palestinian cities during urban warfare. Some of the heaviest fighting occurred in the Palestinian city of Jenin, Zubeidi's hometown. He later emerged as the top commander of the al-Aqsa Martyr Brigades, an armed militia loosely tied to the secular Fatah party, the dominant Palestinian political faction in the West Bank.

After the uprising, Zubeidi worked in a theater in the harsh Jenin refugee camp. In 2019, Israel arrested him again on suspicion of returning to combat activities.

Two years later, Zubeidi and five other Palestinian prisoners escaped by crawling nearly 32 yards through an underground tunnel outside one of Israel's high-security prisons. Although they were later recaptured, the security breach shocked Israelis and excited Palestinians.

In September, Zubeidi's son Mohammad was killed in an Israeli drone strike. The Israeli military called his son a “serious terrorist” and said he was involved in shooting at Israeli troops.

Wissam Abbasi, Mohammad Odeh, Wael Qasim

Wissam Abbasi, 48, Mohammad Odeh, 52, and Wael Qasim, 54, were imprisoned in 2002 for carrying out Hamas attacks against Israelis during the Second Intifada. It was done. According to Israel's Ministry of Justice, the three men were sentenced to life imprisonment for murder and a series of other crimes.

According to current Israeli media reports, the men were convicted of involvement in a Hamas camp in Jerusalem that was involved in a series of bombings that killed more than 30 Israelis in crowded civilian areas. Included in several people.

The attack, which included a Hamas bombing at Jerusalem's Hebrew University, killed nine people, including four Americans, Israeli officials said.

Odeh, who worked as a painter at the university, planted a bomb in the cafeteria and covered it with newspaper, The New York Times reported at the time, citing Israeli officials. As he left, the man used his cell phone to remotely detonate the explosives, officials said.

Under the terms of the ceasefire agreement, the men will not be allowed to return to their homes in Jerusalem, the Israeli Ministry of Justice said. They are forced to live in exile, but it is unclear where they will be allowed to go.

Kalida Jalal

One of the most prominent Palestinian prisoners scheduled to be released as early as Sunday is Khalida Jalal, 62, leader of the left-wing Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Jalal is a prominent activist for the rights of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel and was elected to the Palestinian Parliament in 2006.

The United States and the European Union consider the Popular Front a terrorist organization. The group gained notoriety in the late 1960s for a series of plane hijackings and other attacks, including during the Second Intifada.

Her husband, Ghassan Jalal, said in a telephone interview that Israeli authorities have not allowed him to see his wife since her arrest in December 2023. Her husband, Ghassan Jalal, said he kept track of information about his wife's condition through rare visits from his lawyer. Said.

Jalal has not been convicted of direct involvement in the Popular Front's military activities, but has spent much of the past decade in and out of Israeli prisons. In 2015, she was sentenced to 15 months in prison for sedition and membership in a banned organization.

In recent years, Israel has detained Jalal with little formal charges. Rights groups call the action a serious violation of due process, but Israel says it is sometimes necessary to protect sensitive information.

In 2021, Jalal's daughter Suha died while he was in an Israeli prison. Israel has rejected requests to grant humanitarian furlough to attend funerals.