Cost of the Deal: 602 security prisoners to be released from Israeli prisons

(A7) The Palestinian Authority has announced that 602 Palestinian prisoners will be released from Israeli prisons this week. Among them, 445 are residents of the Gaza Strip arrested during the war. They will be released tomorrow.

Others, set to be released on Saturday, include 50 prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, 60 serving long-term sentences, and 47 previously released in the Shalit deal. 108 inmates will be deported to Egypt as a first step before being transferred to other countries, including 13 prisoners with medical issues.

Among the released is the terrorist Khalil Jabarin Abu-Hamid, a resident of Yatta who murdered Ari Fuld in 2018 at the entrance of a shopping center at the Gush Etzion Junction and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Ari was one of five siblings. He was married to Miriam and fathered four children – Tamar, Naomi, Yakir, and Natan. He confronted the terrorist after being stabbed, managing to shoot and neutralize him before collapsing, thus saving many lives of those present.

Also to be released from Israeli prison is Nael Barghouti, convicted of the murder of bus driver Mordechai Yekuel, of blessed memory, in 1978. He was released in the Shalit deal – and returned to prison for breaking his release terms.

Another terrorist is Bilal Abu-Ghanem, serving three life sentences for a 2015 attack that killed Haviv Haim, Alon Govberg, and Richard Lakin on a bus in Jerusalem.

Terrorist Abed el-Nasser Isa is also expected to be released. He is considered a disciple of Yahya Ayyash. He was first arrested in 1984 for two and a half years, accused of involvement in a cell responsible for throwing explosive devices and Molotov cocktails at IDF patrols.

Another released will be the terrorist Omar al-Zaban, sentenced to 27 life sentences and 25 years in prison, a leader of the Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing. He is responsible for the deaths of at least 27 Israelis.

The release is part of an ongoing effort by Hamas to posthumously fulfill Yahya Sinwar’s pledge to free all the security prisoners in Israel after Sinwar’s own release in the Shalit deal.