Foreign
Israel publishes list of 735 terrorists to be freed as part of hostage deal
Among the more familiar names is Zakaria Zubeidi, former commander of Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades in Jenin.
The Justice Ministry published a list of 735 terrorists who will be released as part of the Israeli government-approved hostage deal early on Saturday morning.
Among those to be released is Zakaria Zubeidi, a former commander of Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades in Jenin. Zubeidi was one of the prisoners involved in the 2021 Gilboa Prison break, in which six prisoners escaped from the high-security prison.
Another individual set for release is Mahmoud Atallah, serving a life sentence plus 15 years for murdering a Palestinian woman accused of collaborating with Israel. Atallah was also indicted in September for the rape of a female prison guard in the “prison pimping” case.
Other names include Ahmed Barghouti, a close aide to Marwan Barghouti, who is serving 13 life sentences.
Arrested alongside Marwan Barghouti in Ramallah in 2002, Ahmed was responsible for supplying weapons to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, the military wing of Fatah, where he served as their operational commander.
Barghouti was convicted for orchestrating several deadly attacks, including the 2002 bombing at Tel Aviv’s “Seafood Market” restaurant, which killed three Israelis and wounded 30, a February 2002 attack in Jerusalem’s Neve Yaakov neighborhood that killed a policewoman and wounded nine, and a bombing on Jaffa Street in Jerusalem that killed two women.
Jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti (C) is accompanied by Israeli prison guards after a deliberation at Jerusalem Magistrate’s court January 25, 2012. Convicted of murder for his role in attacks on Israelis, Barghouti was jailed for life by Israel in 2004. (credit: REUTERS/AMMAR AWAD)Enlrage image
Wael Qassem and Wisam Abbasi, members of the Hamas “Silwan Cell,” will also be released. Qassem and Abbasi were responsible for attacks that caused dozens of casualties, including bombings at Café Moment in Jerusalem, the Sheffield Club in Rishon Lezion, and the Frank Sinatra Cafeteria at Hebrew University in the early 2000s.
The Justice Ministry also added that the first installment of prisoners will not be released before 4:00 p.m. local time on Sunday.
Doubts about releasing prisoners
During the cabinet meeting, several ministers raised concerns about the agreement.
While stressing the importance of securing the hostages’ release, they warned of the risks associated with releasing a large number of prisoners.
Some ministers reviewing the list expressed alarm over the inclusion of senior terrorists responsible for multiple attacks. They also feared that the deal might set a precedent, forcing Israel to release all remaining terrorists serving life sentences in future negotiations.
The National Security Council (NSC) attached an opinion to the decision, acknowledging the complexity of the agreement.
“The decision to release security prisoners and other detainees, including those who committed heinous crimes, as part of a framework to secure hostages, is extraordinarily difficult,” the NSC wrote. “The government must weigh ‘pain against pain.’ The profound and genuine pain of families harmed by the listed prisoners contrasts with the fear for the lives of the hostages and the daily suffering of their families.”
An Israeli air strike on the southern city of Khan Younis in Gaza has killed top Hamas political leader Salah al-Bardaweel, a Hamas official has told the BBC.
Locals say the air strike killed both Bardaweel, regarded as Hamas’s highest-ranking political leader, and his wife. Israeli officials had no immediate comment.
The total death toll in Gaza since the war began surpassed 50,000 on Sunday, its Hamas-run health authorities said, with least 30 people killed in Khan Yunis and Rafah so far on Sunday.
Israel resumed heavy strikes on Gaza earlier this week – in effect ending the first phase of a ceasefire that lasted almost two months. It blamed Hamas for rejecting a new US proposal to extend the truce.
Is the war starting again in Gaza?
Hamas, in turn, accused Israel of abandoning the original deal – mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the US. It envisaged the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the subsequent release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners – in addition to negotiations to end the war entirely and reconstruct Gaza.
In a statement on Sunday, Hamas said Bardaweel, 66, had been praying along with his wife when an Israeli missile struck their tent.
A father of eight, Bardaweel was one of Hamas’s most prominent political figures.
Born in Khan Younis refugee camp, he was known to be close to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and is considered part of the second generation of Hamas leadership, following the movement’s founders.
He headed the political wing of Hamas’s parliamentary bloc and was re-elected to the group’s political bureau in 2021.
Following the killing of Sinwar and Rawhi Mushtaha during the ongoing war, Bardaweel was regarded as Hamas’s highest-ranking political leader.
The air strike that killed Bardaweel was part of one of the most intense waves of aerial bombardment in southern Gaza since the collapse of the ceasefire agreement last Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent Society told the BBC that Israeli forces were surrounding several of the organisation’s ambulances as they attempted to reach an area hit by an Israeli strike in Rafah.
He added that several paramedics were wounded, and contact had been lost with one of the trapped teams, which has been besieged for weeks.
The Israeli military issued evacuation orders for residents of the Tel al-Sultan neighbourhood in western Rafah after the area was hit by heavy shelling and a limited ground assault.
The attack included tank fire from Israeli forces positioned along the Philadelphi Corridor on the border with Egypt, and helicopters also took part in the assault.
Alaa al-Din Sabah, a resident of the neighbourhood, said in a voice message to the BBC: “Bullets are raining down on us like it’s pouring. A woman was shot and is bleeding. Ambulances couldn’t reach her.”
“I can see one of the paramedics lying on the ground, screaming.”
The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.
More than 49,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since then, the Hamas-run health ministry says, and there is large-scale destruction to homes and infrastructure in the Strip.
France’s Foreign Ministry expresses in a statement its “deep concern” at the renewed outbreak of fighting in southern Lebanon.
The Quai d’Orsay condemns rocket attacks against Israel from Lebanon over the weekend, while calling on Israel to exercise restraint in its response.
“France reiterates the importance of not compromising the significant progress made in recent months to ensure the security of Israelis and Lebanese people on both sides of the Blue Line,” the statement reads, adding that French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot conveyed these messages to Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji.
The Houthis announced an aerial blockade on Ben-Gurion Airport and threatened any airlines that fly to Israel.
Yemen’s Houthis announced a blockade on Ben-Gurion Airport and warned major airlines from flying to Israel, the terror organization said in a Saturday morning statement.
“After the success of our Yemeni Armed Forces in cutting off Israeli shipping in the Red Sea, a blockade is imposed on Ben-Gurion Airport in occupied Palestine,” the Houthis wrote in a statement on X/Twitter.
The Houthis warned Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines, Air France, British Airways, United Airlines, and easyJet from flying to Israel for “everyone’s safety.”
Footage released by Houthi Military Media says to show a launch of missile, which the Houthis say they fired at Israel, at an unknown location in this screen grab obtained from a handout video released on December 19, 2024. (credit: Houthi Military Media/Handout via REUTERS)
Houthis target Ben-Gurion Airport
The organization wrote that any other airlines flying to Ben-Gurion Airport would also be targeted.
“Please take the decision of the Yemeni Armed Forces seriously, as Ben-Gurion Airport is no longer safe until the aggression on Gaza stops,” the statement read.
The announcement comes after the Yemeni terrorist organization fired multiple ballistic missiles towards Israel in the past week.
The terror organization targeted Jerusalem with missiles for the third time in two months on Friday.
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