Israel to free 95 Palestinian prisoners on first day of Gaza truce

Some of them have been in Israeli jails for decades now. (Photo/AP)

Israel's Justice Ministry has released the names of 95 Palestinians slated to be released on Sunday following the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire deal.

The list includes women and young men up to 25 years old.

Among the women to be freed is also Dalal al Arouri, sister of Saleh al Arouri, deputy leader of Hamas who was assassinated by Israel in January last year.

The list also includes journalist Bushra al Taweel, who was released in a previous prisoner swap in 2011 between Hamas and Israel. She is the daughter of senior Hamas leader Jamal al Taweel who served as mayor of the occupied West Bank city of Al Bireh.

Khalida Jarrar, a prominent leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council ( parliament), is on the list.

There are currently 10,400 Palestinians in Israeli prisons, not including detainees arrested in Gaza during the last 15 months of Tel Aviv's war on Gaza, according to the Palestinian Commission of Detainees' Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners' Society.

Jailed for decades

Some of them have been in Israeli jails for decades now.

Abdallah al Barghouti was sentenced to 67 life terms in 2004 by an Israeli military court for his involvement in a series of suicide attacks in 2001 and 2002 that killed dozens of Israelis.

Ibrahim Hamed, who was handed 54 life terms, was arrested in 2006 in Ramallah. He was on Israel's wanted list for eight years before his arrest. Israel detained his wife for eight months and in 2003 demolished his house.

Nael Barghouti born in 1957, has spent 44 years, or two-thirds of his 67-year life, incarcerated by Israel - longer than any other Palestinian. He was first jailed in 1978 for taking part in an attack that killed an Israeli soldier in occupied East Jerusalem. He was first released in 2011 under an agreement.

After his release in 2011, he married Eman Nafe, who had also spent 10 years in an Israeli jail. Israel rearrested Barghouti in 2014.

Hassan Salama, born in Gaza's Khan Younis refugee camp in 1971, Salama was convicted in 1996. He was sentenced to 48 life terms in jail.

Marwan al Barghouti is a leading member of the Fatah movement, Barghouti is seen as a possible successor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. He was arrested in 2002, and sentenced to five life terms in 2004.

Ahmed Saadat, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), was arrested by the Israeli military in 2006. He was sentenced to 30 years in jail in 2008.

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Source: TRT