Israel-Gaza ceasefire deal: Which Palestinian prisoners could be released?
More than a thousand Palestinian prisoners, many held without charge for years within the Israeli prison system, are preparing for their first taste of freedom.
The exact number of prisoners being released in exchange for Israeli captives held in Gaza is unclear. The text of the ceasefire deal has not yet been released, and details reported on by media outlets describe different ratios for the captive-prisoner exchange, depending on whether the Palestinian prisoners are serving life sentences or not.
There are currently 10,400 Palestinians in Israeli prisons, not including those detained from Gaza during the last 15 months of conflict, according to the Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society.
The Israeli Ministry of Justice has released a list of 95 Palestinian women and children set to be released on Sunday if the implementation of the ceasefire deal begins, but beyond that, no names of the prisoners to be released are known.
According to the deal’s outline, their release will not take place before Sunday at 4pm local time (14:00 GMT).
The list of names released by Israel shows that a vast majority were arrested after the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, according to media reports. Fewer than 10 were arrested before the attacks.
Phase one
During the first stage of the three-phase agreement between Hamas and Israel, more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners will be exchanged for 33 of the remaining Israeli captives, who are estimated to number about 100 in total.
Under the terms of the agreement, Palestinian prisoners will be released in exchange for Israeli captives according to ratios agreed upon by both sides and international mediators in Doha.
According to reports, 110 Palestinian prisoners sentenced to life by Israeli courts will be exchanged for nine ill and wounded Israeli captives. In addition, Israeli men over the age of 50 will be released in exchange for Palestinian captives at a ratio of 1:3 for those sentenced for life sentences, and 1:27 for those serving other sentences.
