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Israeli officials have expressed deep concern about releasing such dangerous terrorists who could return to planning and executing attacks against civilians if freed.
Hamas has handed over a list of terrorists it wants freed in exchange for the remaining 48 Israeli hostages, including the masterminds of some of the deadliest attacks against the Jewish state.
Senior Hamas official Taher Nunu confirmed that “prisoner lists” were exchanged between both sides during negotiations in Egypt, based on agreed criteria and numbers under President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza.
“The mediators are making great efforts to remove every obstacle to the implementation of a ceasefire, and there is an optimistic spirit among everyone,” Nunu said.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the terror group is demanding Israel return the bodies of Yahya and Mohammed Sinwar as part of implementing President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, citing Arab mediators. Israel has previously rejected the request, viewing the Sinwar brothers’ remains as holding enormous symbolic value.
Yahya Sinwar, who orchestrated the October 7 massacre that killed 1,200 Israelis and saw 250 taken hostage, was killed by the IDF in Tel Sultan in Rafah in October 2024 during a firefight with Israeli troops.
His brother Mohammed, who succeeded him as head of the Iranian-backed terrorist organization, was eliminated by an Israeli airstrike in May.
Hamas is also seeking the release of several high-profile terrorists responsible for murdering hundreds of Israelis, according to Egyptian sources informed on the negotiations who spoke to the Saudi state-owned Asharq Al-Awsat.
Among those is Marwan Barghouti, a Fatah terrorist leader who has been imprisoned for more than 23 years.
He is serving five life sentences plus 40 years for directing terror attacks during the Second Intifada that murdered five Israelis, including a Greek Orthodox monk.
Hamas has repeatedly stipulated Barghouti’s release in past negotiations, a demand which Israel has refused.
Another is Abdullah Barghouti, 53, who is currently serving 67 consecutive life sentences for the 2001 Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing that killed 15 people including seven children and a pregnant woman, the double suicide bombing in the Ben Yehuda pedestrian mall, the 2002 Café Moment bombing, the 2002 Rishon LeZion bombing, and the Hebrew University bombing.
In total, his bombs murdered 66 innocent Israelis and wounded over 500.
The other four notable terrorists Hamas seeks to release are Hassan Salameh, 54, serving 46 life sentences for orchestrating a wave of suicide bombings; Ahmad Sa’adat, 72, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison for masterminding the 2001 assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze’evi in a Jerusalem hotel; Ibrahim Hamed, 60, serving 54 life sentences for orchestrating suicide attacks that murdered 46 Israelis during the Second Intifada; and Abbas al-Sayed, 59, serving 35 life sentences for masterminding the March 27, 2002 Park Hotel bombing in Netanya that killed 30 mostly elderly civilians during a Passover Seder.
Israeli officials have expressed deep concern about releasing such dangerous terrorists who could return to planning and executing attacks against civilians if freed.
Late last night, US President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Hamas have signed off on the first phase of his 20-point Gaza ceasefire plan following negotiations in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, with US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner participating.
The agreement calls for the release of all 48 hostages, about 20 of whom are believed to be alive, likely on Monday, in exchange for 250 life-term terrorists and 1,700 others detained by Israeli forces since the October 7 massacre.
“This means that ALL of the hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw [its] troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a strong, durable and everlasting Peace,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform.
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