File photo : Palestinians celebrate the release of some 90 prisoners set free by Israel upon their arrival aboard a Red Cross bus in the Palestinian West Bank town of Beitunia, on the outskirts of Ramallah. AFP
The Israel Prison Service received official orders on Sunday to release several Palestinian "security prisoners" as part of the first phase of a ceasefire and exchange plan proposed by US President Donald Trump and brokered by Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey during talks held in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh last week.
According to Israeli media, detainees have been moved from five different prisons to the Ketziot and Ofer facilities, where they are being grouped according to their release destinations.
Those slated for transfer to Gaza or abroad through the Rafah crossing have been gathered at Ketziot Prison in the Negev Desert, southwest of Beersheba. Prisoners set for release to the occupied West Bank are being held at Ofer Prison, west of Ramallah, in preparation for their handover to Palestinian and international mediators.
The broader deal, based on a 20-point plan proposed by Trump, includes Israel releasing about 250 Palestinians serving life sentences and roughly 1,700 detainees from Gaza captured after 7 October 2023.
In return, Hamas is expected to release 47 captives, both living and deceased, before the international summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, co-chaired by Trump and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.
"According to the signed agreement, the prisoner exchange is set to begin on Monday morning as agreed," Hamas official Osama Hamdan told AFP during an interview on Saturday.
However, the final list published by Israeli authorities includes only 195 prisoners serving life terms, fewer than initially agreed, after Israel’s internal security agency, Shin Bet, objected to nearly 100 names and excluded 25 senior figures it labeled as an ongoing “security threat.”
Those vetoed include high-profile Palestinian leaders such as Marwan Barghouti, the long-imprisoned Fatah leader viewed by many as a national unifier; Ahmad Saadat, secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP); and Hassan Salameh, a veteran resistance figure.
Israel has long considered their release a “red line,” a stance that has repeatedly delayed prisoner exchange efforts over the past two years.
Hamdan said negotiations over the final list were still ongoing. “Israel is still refusing to release certain names. However, the delegation is making every effort to secure their release,” he noted.
The release of prisoners serving life sentences holds deep political and emotional significance for Palestinians. Many have spent decades in Israeli prisons, becoming national symbols of endurance and resistance. Their photos hang in homes and public squares, and their names are taught in schools across generations.
According to Palestinian and Israeli human rights groups, over 11,000 Palestinians remain imprisoned in Israel, including hundreds of women and children. Rights monitors describe prison conditions as harsh and abusive, citing cases of torture, starvation, and medical neglect that have caused multiple deaths in custody.
Since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023, 78 Palestinian detainees have died in Israeli prisons and detention centres, according to the Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Committee and the Palestinian Prisoners Society.
As transfers began, Israeli forces reportedly raided the homes of several prisoners expected to be released in the occupied West Bank, warning families against holding celebrations or displaying Palestinian flags, a pattern seen in previous prisoner exchanges during Israel’s ongoing two-year war on Gaza.
Despite the restrictions, anticipation is high. For families who have waited decades, the prospect of seeing their loved ones freed has brought a mix of hope and disbelief.
The coming days are expected to see the gradual implementation of the exchange, as the first group of Palestinian "lifers" walk free.
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