The move follows Israel and Hamas and Tel Aviv's agreement on the first phase of a ceasefire and prisoner exchange, based on a 20-point plan proposed by US President Donald Trump.
Under the deal, Israel will free 250 prisoners and approximately 1,700 Gazans detained since the war began on 7 October 2023.
In exchange, Hamas will release 47 Israeli captives held in Gaza, including 25 dead captives who were killed by Israeli bombing throughout the war.
According to Israel’s Justice Ministry, 15 of the 250 prisoners will be released to East Jerusalem, 100 to the West Bank, and 135 will be deported abroad.
The list notably excludes several senior Palestinian figures long seen as symbols of resistance and whose release Hamas has repeatedly demanded.
Sources said last-minute adjustments were made to the list early Friday, swapping 11 Fatah-affiliated prisoners for Hamas members as part of the ongoing negotiations.
Despite Hamas’s insistence, prominent Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti is not included. Also excluded are Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) leader Ahmad Sa’adat and senior Hamas figures Ibrahim Hamed and Hassan Salameh, despite reported pressure from Hamas negotiators.
Barghouti, imprisoned for over two decades, is seen by many Palestinians as a unifying national figure.
A senior leader in the Fatah movement, he played a major role in both the First Intifada of 1987 and the Second Intifada of 2000. Over the years, he has faced multiple arrests, deportations, and assassination attempts, and is currently serving five life sentences in Israeli prisons.
In addition to the security prisoners, another 1,700 Gaza detainees arrested after 7 October will be freed back to the strip or exiled abroad, according to the Israeli media.
All releases are expected to take place only after a 72-hour period during which all Israeli captives, both living and deceased, are to be handed over by Hamas.
Among those listed for release is Iyad Abu al-Rub, a commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Jenin area of the West Bank. Israeli authorities accuse him of orchestrating and overseeing several attacks inside Israel.
Also named are Muhammad Zakarneh, a Fatah operative convicted of involvement in a 2009 attack, and Muhammad Abu al-Rub, who was convicted of a fatal stabbing in 2017.
Mahmoud Qawasmeh, a senior Hamas member previously freed in the 2011 Gilad Shalit deal, deported to Gaza, and later re-arrested during the 2024 Gaza war, is also slated for release, according to Israeli media reports.
The oldest detainee on the list is Samir Ibrahim Mahmoud Abu Naama, 64, who was arrested in 1986 and charged with military training, possession of weapons, and membership in an illegal organization. No case number was provided.
The youngest Palestinian prisoner set to be released is Muhammad Rajab Hassan Abu Qatish, who was arrested in 2022 at the age of 16 and is now 19 years old.
Despite Israel’s publication of the prisoner lists, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Media Office said that no official agreement has yet been reached regarding the names of prisoners to be included in the exchange deal.
The office added that once a final agreement is concluded, the official lists will be released through its official platforms.
More than 11,100 Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons, where, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights organisations, detainees face torture, starvation, and medical neglect—conditions that have led to numerous deaths in custody.
Earlier, Hamas stated that the lists of Palestinian prisoners to be released had been submitted to Israel via the mediators based on previously agreed-upon criteria and numbers.
“We are awaiting final approval of the names in preparation for announcing them to our people through the Prisoners’ Information Office once all related procedures and understandings are completed,” said the head of Hamas’s Office for Martyrs and Prisoners, Zaher Jabarin.
Jabarin reaffirmed the Palestinian resistance group’s commitment to the prisoners’ cause, stating, “Hamas renews its pledge to our brave prisoners and their families that they will remain at the core of our priorities, and we will not rest until the last prisoner enjoys freedom.”
A Hamas spokesperson has warned that Israel is attempting to change key elements of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, including the timing, prisoner lists, and the return of displaced people, while continuing to delay its commitments, such as withdrawal and detainee releases.
“We call on mediators to pressure the occupation to adhere to what was agreed,” the spokesperson told Al Jazeera.
“The agreement, as we understand from mediators, is a beginning to ending the genocidal war in Gaza.”
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