Some Prominent Palestinian Prisoners Set to Be Released in the Israel-Hamas Cease-Fire Agreement

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Israel is expected on Sunday to begin releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, according to the terms of the cease-fire and hostage release agreement with Hamas.

Zakaria Zubeidi points a finger upward while being carried amid a crowd of people, several of whom are wielding guns. — Supporters carrying Zakaria Zubeidi, who was then a leader in the Aqsa Martyrs Brigade in the West Bank, in Jenin in 2004.Credit…Nasser Nasser/Associated Press

Jan. 18, 2025, 8:57 a.m. ET

Israel is due to release more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners over the course of the 42-day initial cease-fire, according to the terms of the agreement, beginning with at least 90 on Sunday in exchange for three Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

Israelis say that many of the prisoners are terrorists and murderers. Many Palestinians see the imprisoned militants as freedom fighters against Israeli rule, and they argue that others were jailed by an unfair Israeli military justice system.

Here are several of the most prominent Palestinian prisoners set to be released under the cease-fire, according to the Israeli Justice Ministry.

Zakaria Zubeidi

Over the past two decades, Zakaria Zubeidi, 49, has been a militant, a theater director, and an escaped prisoner whose flight stunned Israelis and Palestinians alike.

Mr. Zubeidi rose to prominence as a militant leader during the Second Intifada, or uprising, in the early 2000s, during which Palestinian militants committed deadly attacks against Israelis, including suicide bombings targeting civilian thoroughfares.

Israel responded by reoccupying major Palestinian cities amid street battles. Some of the toughest fighting took place in the Palestinian city of Jenin, Mr. Zubeidi’s hometown. He later emerged as a top commander in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, an armed militia loosely linked with the secular Fatah party, the dominant Palestinian political faction in the West Bank.

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