Israel’s Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, on Sunday morning rejected a petition filed by terror victims that sought to block the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners as part of a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
“It is not our place or custom to intervene in matters of this type in which the scope of judicial review is extremely narrow,” the justices stated in their ruling.
As part of Sunday’s hostage release, the Israel Prison Service is preparing to free 90 Palestinian terrorists, the organization announced on Sunday afternoon. Some 1,500 guards will participate in the operation, it said.
In accordance with the terms of the ceasefire, the terrorists will not be freed until the three female hostages have been returned to the Jewish state by the IDF.
Hamas has called on Palestinians in Judea and Samaria to take to the streets to celebrate the terrorists’ release. Jerusalem has vowed to thwart such celebrations.
Qadura Fares, whom Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas promoted to the rank of minister in 2023 to head the PLO division that advocates on behalf of terrorists jailed in the Jewish state, told Arabic media on Sunday that the release of the Palestinian terrorists jailed in Israel was a source of “pride, hope and honor for every Palestinian.”
Fares said that Ramallah would press for the release of additional high-profile terrorists, including Fatah-Tanzim head Marwan Barghouti and Ahmad Sa’adat, secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization, in the second phase of the deal with Hamas.
Over the weekend, the Israeli Justice Ministry released the names of the terrorists who could be released as part of the ceasefire deal.
According to the ministry, Israel will release 1,904 Palestinian terrorists in the first stage of the agreement: 737 prisoners and administrative detainees—among them murderers—and 1,167 residents of the Gaza Strip not involved in the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.
Among the prominent names on the list is Zakaria Zubeidi, who led Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the Samaria city of Jenin and escaped from Israel’s high-security Gilboa Prison in September 2021.
Zubeidi was recaptured five days after his prison break. Since he was not convicted of murder but of other terror offenses, he will not be deported abroad and is expected to be released back to Judea and Samaria.
Another Palestinian terrorist whose sentence is set to be commuted is Ahmad Barghouti, a cousin and close aide to Marwan Barghouti, the leader of the Second Intifada. Ahmad was sentenced to 13 life terms for leading a terror cell that carried out attacks in which 12 Israelis were killed, including the suicide bombing at the Seafood Market restaurant in Tel Aviv on March 5, 2002.
Other prominent terrorists include Khalida Jarrar, whom the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) said leads the PFLP in Judea and Samaria.
Hamas terrorists Wael Qassem, Wassam Abbasi and Mohammed Odeh are responsible for bombings that killed 35 Israelis in 2002, including one in Jerusalem in which 11 Israelis were murdered, another in Rishon Letzion in which 15 Israelis were killed and a third at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in which nine people were killed, including four Americans.
Khalil Jabarin is serving a life sentence for stabbing to death dual U.S.-Israeli citizen Ari Fuld at the Gush Etzion Junction in Judea in 2018.
Fuld’s brother, Hillel Fuld, tweeted on Sunday morning, “Israel is excited to get our babies back. Our innocent women. Hamas is excited to get their murderers back. Their genocidal maniacs. There, now you understand the nature of this war. Congratulations.”
