Freed Israeli hostage Ofer Kalderon faced physical and mental abuse in Hamas captivity, including beatings, isolation, and restrictions on basic needs, his relatives revealed.
His welcoming sentiment to released Palestinian prisoners is not the first of its kind in recent weeks.
Amid Israel-Hamas hostage talks, speculation grows over freeing Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti. Praised as a unifier, his potential release faces backlash over past deadly attacks.
Israel has been caught in an impossible dilemma: how to choose or balance between the immediate fate of the hostages and the long-term national security concerns of Israel and its people.
The Ministry added two additional names to the list: Ahmad Raad Zaid Faroukh and Ahmad Mohammad Nayef Al-Hawamdeh.
"On the directive of the Security Cabinet, the IDF, the ISA, and the Israel Police have today begun a...military operation to defeat terrorism in Jenin," Netanyahu said.
Most of the prisoners on the list are women, and only one prisoner on the list under the age of 18 at the time of their arrest was convicted of murder.
Nevertheless, Bar admitted that releasing terrorists, some of whom he personally arrested, was "very difficult."
Atallah was indicted in September 2023 for the rape of a female prison guard in the “prison pimping” case.
Among the more familiar names is Zakaria Zubeidi, former commander of Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in Jenin.
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