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(JNS) Qatar and Turkey are slated to take in the lion’s share of the Palestinian murder convicts released by Israel as part of its hostage deal with the Hamas terrorist group, Arab media reported on Wednesday.
Doha has reportedly agreed to welcome some 55 of the high-profile terrorists with blood on their hands whose sentences were commuted by Israel on Saturday as part of the second wave of releases during the truce, in exchange for four female Israel Defense Forces soldiers taken during Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border massacre in southern Israel.
Ankara is expected to host the remainder, and an additional country—possibly Algeria—may be asked to host some of the terrorists deported at a later stage of the ceasefire, according to Wednesday’s report, which cited sources in Hamas and in the region.
The talks on where to send the released terrorists are reportedly being conducted in full coordination with Jerusalem.
Per the terms of the agreement, Israel on Saturday freed a total of 200 terrorists (50 for each soldier—30 serving life sentences and 20 who were supposed to remain in prison for up to 15 years).
Those who were “convicted of murder, of manufacturing weapons used for murder, or of directing the carrying out a fatal attack” were deported to the Gaza Strip or abroad, instead of to Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem.
Murderers have been banned from returning to territories under Israeli control for three years or permanently, depending on their crimes, Jerusalem has previously said.
A hundred and nine terrorists were released back into Judea and Samaria, 21 to the Gaza Strip and the rest, about 70, were deported to Egypt and are expected to leave for other countries in accordance with the terms of the agreement, which went into effect on Jan. 19.
In Cairo, the released terrorists were welcomed by representatives of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. At least some of the terrorists immediately traveled on to Qatar, according to reports on Sunday.
Qatar and Turkey are U.S. allies, with the latter also being part of NATO since 1952. Both nations have hosted senior Hamas members for years.
Turkey, which has hosted a Hamas headquarters since 2012, has given full backing to the Palestinian terrorist organization in the aftermath of its Oct. 7 massacre.
Qatar, which has hosted Hamas leaders and has provided the terrorist group with hundreds of millions of dollars, played a role in mediating the freedom of the hostages. It has deflected accusations of playing a double game, saying United States requested that it open the channel.
