The Israel Prison Service announced on Thursday that, following a government decision and in coordination with the IDF, criminal prisoner Amal Abu Salah and security prisoner Sudki al-Makat will be released Thursday and Friday, before they have completed serving their prison terms.
Abu Salah, a resident of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, served seven years and eight months in prison for killing a Syrian civilian. He was supposed to be in prison until 2023.
Sudki al-Makat, also a resident of Majdal Shams, was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2015 for treason and espionage, support for terrorism and contact with a hostile organization. He was to have been serving his prison sentence until 2026.
The Prime Minister's Office said that "the government approved the release of the two prisoners, as a political gesture and as a measure of goodwill, following the bringing of the body of the late Zachary Baumel from Syria to Israel."