On Friday night, the government ministers approved the hostage deal, and the Ministry of Justice published a list of 735 security prisoners scheduled for release in exchange for 33 hostages held by Hamas for over a year.
This list includes senior terrorists responsible for some of the deadliest attacks in Israel's history, including commanders of terrorist organizations and planners of attacks that claimed the lives of hundreds of Israelis.
Among those released is Zakariya Zubeidi - commander of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades of Fatah in Jenin, responsible for numerous terrorist acts during the Second Intifada. Zubeidi, who was among the prisoners who escaped from Gilboa Prison in September 2021, is considered responsible for the Likud branch attack in Beit She'an in 2002, where six people were murdered.
Ahmed Barghouti - commander of the Fatah military wing in the Ramallah area, serving 13 life sentences. Convicted of murdering 12 Israelis in a series of suicide attacks during the Second Intifada, including the attack at the "Seafood Market" restaurant in Tel Aviv and attacks in Neve Ya'akov and Jaffa Street in Jerusalem.
Majdi Za'tari - from East Jerusalem, sentenced to 23 life sentences and 50 years imprisonment. Convicted of leading a suicide bomber to an attack on a bus in Jerusalem in August 2003, in which 23 people were murdered.
The Silwan cell of Hamas - Wael Kasem and Wissam Abbasi - responsible for a series of deadly terrorist attacks that claimed the lives of 35 Israelis, including the attacks at Cafe Moment in Jerusalem, Sheffield Club in Rishon Lezion, and the Frank Sinatra cafeteria at Hebrew University.
Thabet Mardawi - a senior Islamic Jihad member responsible for the deaths of 21 Israelis and injuries of nearly 200 during the Second Intifada. He planned a series of deadly suicide attacks, including: a suicide bombing at Kibbutz Shluhot, a shooting attack at the market in Hadera, a shooting near Camp 80 base, and the bus bombing at Moza Junction.
Ahmed Dahidi - a senior member of Islamic Jihad, serving two life sentences for his part in the murder of Eli Bitton in a shooting attack in Gdish in January 2003.
Osama al-Ashkar - a senior member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, serving eight life sentences and 50 years imprisonment for planning and carrying out two attacks in 2002 at Kibbutz Metzer and Hermesh, in which eight Israelis were murdered.
Iyad Masalma - a Hamas activist from Dora, serving a life sentence for dispatching a terrorist for a shooting attack in Karmi Tzur. In the attack, which occurred on June 8, 2002, spouses Eyal and Yael Shorek and reservist Shalom Mordechai were murdered, and five others were injured.
Adham Yonis - a senior member of Islamic Jihad, serving five life sentences for his involvement in the attack at Sharon Mall in Netanya in 2005, in which five Israelis were murdered and over 40 were injured.
Also, among the names is Ahmed Obeid - a Hamas activist from East Jerusalem, sentenced to seven life sentences for dispatching a bomber for the attack at Cafe Hillel in Jerusalem in September 2003, where seven people were murdered and 64 injured.
Akram Hamed - a Fatah-Tanzim activist from Silwad, serving a life sentence for the murder of Asaf Hershkovitz and Idit Mizrahi in May 2001. Hamed, who was then 25 years old, was the direct executor of the shooting in a series of attacks in the Ramallah area between 2000 and 2004.
Ahmed Ibrahim, aged 53, a terrorist with Islamic Jihad, sentenced to 25 years for attempted murder, military training, membership in an unrecognized organization, and shooting at people, will also be released.