three things to know about Palestinian prisoners who must be exchanged for hostages

The Israeli Justice Ministry has published a list of 300 names of Palestinians available for release as part of an exchange with people taken hostage during the Hamas attacks on October 7.

Israel and Hamas announced, Wednesday, November 22, the conclusion of an agreement providing for the release of 50 hostages held since the terrorist attacks of October 7, in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners and a four-day truce in the Strip. Gaza. The names of the hostages concerned have not yet been revealed, and it is unknown, for example, whether French nationals still missing will be released by Hamas.

The Israeli Ministry of Justice, for its part, published on Wednesday a list of 300 names of Palestinians eligible for release (267 young men and 33 women). He thus anticipates a potential second phase of exchanges. Here are three things to know about these prisoners who could be exchanged for hostages.

1 More than four out of ten names are those of minor prisoners

The register mainly contains the names of adolescents and young men, convicted of violence or awaiting trial. In detail, 124 of the 300 people listed in this document are under 18 years old (41%), and five of them are only 14 years old.

The Israeli Justice Ministry links 62 names to Fatah, the party of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. For 29 other names, a link is established by Israeli justice with Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. Twenty-eight people are linked to Islamic Jihad, fourteen others to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and three to the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, according to Israeli authorities. The other prisoners have no affiliation provided.

The list does not include any prisoners convicted of murder. The charges and accusations cover a very broad spectrum, ranging from throwing stones or incendiary objects to disturbing public order, including “support for terrorism”THE “security breaches”, possession of firearms as well as attempted murder. Finally, none of these detainees have Israeli nationality, but 78 have a resident card.

2 More than 10% women in this list

In total, 33 women also appear in this list, or a little more than 10%. They are detained, most often, for stabbing attacks. Certain cases have thus raised eyebrows in the Israeli press. Daily life Haaretz notes the presence of Misoun Mussa, sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2015 for stabbing an Israeli soldier. Another profile spotted by the Israeli newspaper, that of Marah Bakeer, arrested in October 2015, at the age of 16, after stabbing a border police officer.

A resident of Jerusalem, Moriah Cohen, quoted by the Times of Israel, said he was surprised to discover the presence on this list of someone named Nafoz Hamad, his former neighbor aged 16. Two years ago, this teenager stabbed the mother of the family, in front of her children. Tried a week ago, she was ultimately sentenced to twelve years in prison.

3 Possible appeals to the Israeli Supreme Court

Israeli citizens have 24 hours to petition the Supreme Court if they believe certain names should not be on the list. This is the reason why the first exchange will not take place before Thursday. The Almagor association, which defends victims of terrorism, announced that it would take the matter to the highest authority in the country, which has the last word.

The Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, also spoke out against this planned exchange, referring to an agreement in 2011. That year, more than a thousand prisoners were exchanged for soldier Gilad Shalit , captured five years ago. Among the released detainees were Houssam Badran, who later became spokesperson for Hamas in Qatar, and Yahya Sinwar, leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement in the Gaza Strip and considered one of the organizers of the attack on 7 october.

In this tense context, the Israeli police have already planned to prevent celebrations likely to accompany the return of prisoners to East Jerusalem. Israel detains 6,704 people for “security reasons”according to the NGO HaMoked, of which an overwhelming majority of “Palestinians from the occupied territories”. In detail, the Israeli organization lists, for the month of November 2023, 2,313 convicted prisoners, 2,321 defendants and 2,070 administrative detainees, who are placed in detention without trial. Israel also detains 105 people under the status of “illegal combatant”.