Israel is preparing to exchange about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees for 48 hostages dead and alive still held in Gaza. The exchange is a key component of a breakthrough deal announced last week that could pave the way to ending the two-year war.
Estonia closes road through Russian territory due to presence of Russian troopsTrump's intervention in Washington prompts calls for its 18-term House delegate to step downIndiana sets AP Top 25 record, Texas rejoins the rankings'Tron: Ares' tops box office but falls short of expectations with $33.
5 million debutTrump says inflation is 'defeated' and the Fed has cut rates, yet prices remain too high for manyPhotos show Ghana's fantasy coffins as a stylish final restPrescription drug coverage options are shrinking for Medicare shoppersHow 'The Great Lock In' can help achieve your financial and wellness goalsIs spending all day on your feet at work an occupational hazard?Republicans try to weaken 50-year-old law protecting whales, seals and polar bearsOregon no longer plans to provide Medicaid services to those about to leave jail or prisonKennedy reups unproven Tylenol-autism link during Cabinet meeting as Trump repeats 'don't take it'One Tech Tip: Annoyed by junk calls to your iPhone? Try the new iOS 26 call screen featureThe Dubai chocolate craze is now about much more than barsPope urges news agencies to stand as bulwark against lies, manipulation and post-truthsCuatro muertos y al menos 20 heridos en tiroteo en un bar de Carolina del SurDeloitte reembolsará parcialmente al gobierno australiano por reporte con errores generados por IAIsrael expects hostages to be freed from Gaza 'in a few hours' as ceasefire holdsShooting at packed South Carolina bar kills 4 and injures at least 20 othersVance warns 'deeper' cuts ahead for federal workers as shutdown enters 12th dayNo. 3 Indiana has its highest ranking ever in AP Top 25, Texas, USC back in the rankingsAP Entertainment WireScrapple sculpture contest winner prevailed in Eagles country by putting the pig into pigskinGround squirrels are taking over a North Dakota city and officials are not amusedA good shower is a simple shower, no matter what influencers recommendDo you eat a meal in 20 minutes or less? It might be time to slow downRepublicans try to weaken 50-year-old law protecting whales, seals and polar bearsOregon no longer plans to provide Medicaid services to those about to leave jail or prisonKennedy reups unproven Tylenol-autism link during Cabinet meeting as Trump repeats 'don't take it'One Tech Tip: Annoyed by junk calls to your iPhone? Try the new iOS 26 call screen featureThe Dubai chocolate craze is now about much more than barsPope urges news agencies to stand as bulwark against lies, manipulation and post-truthsCuatro muertos y al menos 20 heridos en tiroteo en un bar de Carolina del SurDeloitte reembolsará parcialmente al gobierno australiano por reporte con errores generados por IARed Cross vehicles and buses stand by in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, ahead of the release of Palestinian prisoners by Israel. Palestinians look at the Israeli Ofer prison in the West Bank city of Beitunia, Monday Oct. 13, 2025, awaiting the release of Palestinian prisoners as part of a swap for Israelis held hostage in Gaza.Red Cross vehicles and buses stand by in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, ahead of the release of Palestinian prisoners by Israel. Red Cross vehicles and buses stand by in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, ahead of the release of Palestinian prisoners by Israel. Palestinians look at the Israeli Ofer prison in the West Bank city of Beitunia, Monday Oct. 13, 2025, awaiting the release of Palestinian prisoners as part of a swap for Israelis held hostage in Gaza.Palestinians look at the Israeli Ofer prison in the West Bank city of Beitunia, Monday Oct. 13, 2025, awaiting the release of Palestinian prisoners as part of a swap for Israelis held hostage in Gaza.BEITUNIA, West Bank — Under a ceasefire deal many hope will finally turn the page on a two-year war, Israel has been preparing to exchange nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners for the 48 hostages — some alive, some dead — still held in the Gaza Strip. The releases have powerful resonance on both sides. For Israelis, they’re deeply painful, since some of those being release have been convicted over attacks that killed civilians and soldiers. For Palestinians, the issue of prisoners is among the most politically charged, with nearly every Palestinian having a friend or family member who has been jailed by Israel, particularly young men. While Israel views them as terrorists, many Palestinians consider the prisoners as freedom fighters resisting a decades-long Israeli military occupation. In previous exchanges, both sides have sought to tightly manage the releases — including the images, clothing and ceremonies — because of their political sensitivity. The 2,000 include some 1,700 of the several thousand Palestinians that Israeli troops seized from Gaza during the 2-year war and have held without charge. Those slated for release also include 250 Palestinians sentenced to prison terms, most of them convicted of murder and terrorism in deadly attacks on Israelis dating back decades as well as others convicted on lesser charges, according to Israel’s Justice Ministry. The longest serving among them has been imprisoned for nearly 40 years.Israel’s Prison Service said it has been preparing the prisoners held at two prisons — Ofer, near Jerusalem, and Ketziot, in the southern Negev desert. Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian said Sunday the release would take place after the living hostages are freed. Those seized from Gaza during the war will be returned there. Some of the 250 convicted Palestinians will return home to east Jerusalem or the West Bank or Gaza, while a majority will be sent to Gaza or into exile abroad. Palestinians on Monday morning gathered at viewpoints on the hills overlooking Ofer Prison, from which some of the detainees and prisoners are expected to be freed. Eagerly awaiting their friends and relatives, they drank coffee and said they hoped the agreement could pave a path toward peace. An armored Israeli vehicle drove up the hill from the prison fired tear gas and rubber bullets at one side of the hill. As drones buzzed overhead, the crowd scattered. The tear gas followed the circulation of a flier warning that anyone supporting what it called “terrorist organizations” risked arrest.Israel has warned people in the West Bank against celebrating — as has frequently happened in past releases, a Palestinian Authority official and the family of a prisoner told AP. In neighborhoods where prisoners’ families live, Israeli forces distributed fliers warning that “anyone who participates in such activities exposes himself to punishment and arrest,” the official said. The Associated Press reviewed a copy of the flier. Israel’s military did not respond to questions about the flier or restrictions. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press, and the family because they feared reprisals. Israel’s military did not respond to questions about restrictions or warnings.The rapid developments since last week’s ceasefire agreement have left questions up to the last minute over who will be freed. Israel released a list of some 250 convicted prisoners it would free, but Hamas sought changes. Early Monday, Hamas published the names of just over 1,900 prisoners and detainees it said were slated for release, though Israel did not confirm the list. Israel has provided little information about the 1,700 from Gaza to be freed. Israeli forces detained thousands of Palestinians over the course of the war during raids on shelters and hospitals and at checkpoints stopping families as they were fleeing their homes amid military operations. Hundreds have been released over the course of the war. Monday’s release would still leave about 1,300 Palestinians from Gaza in Israeli custody, according to a count of detainees in September by the Israeli human rights group Hamoked. According to Hamas’s list, the Gaza detainees to be freed include two women, six teenagers under 18 and around 30 men over 60. Most of the detainees have ben held under new laws passed in Israel at the start of the war that allowed Palestinians to be detained for months as “unlawful combatants” without judicial review or access to lawyers. Rights groups,in the detention facilities, including beatings and insufficient food. Israel says it adheres to its prison standards under law and investigates any reports of violations. The list of 250 convicted prisoners to be freed, ranging in age from 19 to 64, includes 159 affiliated with Fatah, the political party that runs the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank, and 63 associated with Hamas. The remainder are unaffiliated or belong to other groups. Many were arrested in the early 2000s, which saw the eruption of the Second Intifada, a Palestinian uprising fueled by anger over continued occupation despite years of peace talks. The uprising turned bloody, with Palestinian armed groups carrying out attacks that killed hundreds of Israelis, and the Israeli military killing several thousand Palestinians. Some were convicted in military trials that rights advocates say often lack due process. Othes have been incarcerated for months or years without trial in what is known as administrative detention. Israel says the practice, widely criticized by Palestinians and human rights groups, is needed to prevent attacks and avoid sharing sensitive intelligence., Hassan Salameh, Ahmed Saadat and Abbas Al-Sayyed. Barghouti is widely seen as a potential successor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.A 51-year-old Palestinian police officer and Fatah member, Sheikh was sentenced to multiple life terms in 2000 for his role in the killing of two Israeli soldiers who were attacked by a mob at a West Bank police station, including one thrown from the station’s window.A 57-year-old Hamas commander imprisoned for life in 1993 — before the Oslo interim peace accords — Issa was among those convicted of kidnapping and killing a 29-year-old Israeli border police officer that year. Much of his more than three decades behind bars were spent in solitary confinement, conditions that have made him a symbol among prisoners’ rights advocates.The two brothers — 56-year-old Mohammed and 62-year-old Abdel Jawad Shamasneh — were in 1993 sentenced to multiple life terms for their role in a stabbing attack that killed Israeli hitchhikers whose bodies were later found in a Jerusalem riverbed in 1990 during the first Palestinian intifada.A 47-year-old Fatah member serving a life sentence, Fatafta was one of two men convicted of murder for stabbing American tourist Kristine Luken and a friend who was hiking with her and survived.Trump’s intervention in Washington prompts calls for its 18-term House delegate to step downDiane Keaton, Oscar-winning star of ‘Annie Hall’ and ‘The Godfather,’ dies at 79
Israel Crime Israel Government Mahmoud Abbas Marwan Barghouti 2024-2025 Mideast Wars Prisoner Exchange Israel-Hamas War War And Unrest Gaza Strip Hostage Situations Homicide Prisons Palestinian Territories Government Terrorism West Bank MIDEAST WARS Rebellions And Uprisings Hamas Middle East Legal Proceedings World News Prisoners Of War Indictments Hassan Salameh Military Occupations Abbas Al-Sayyed Violence
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Israel moves Palestinian prisoners ahead of planned releaseUnder the deal, 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including 250 serving life sentences and 1,700 detained in Gaza, will be released in exchange for 48 Israeli captives.
Read more »
Pro-Palestinian protesters march to stadium before Norway-Israel gamePro-Palestinian protesters have lit flares and waved flags as they marched to the stadium ahead of the World Cup qualifier between Norway and Israel in Oslo. Public broadcaster NRK said around 1,000 protesters arrived from the city center to Ullevaal Stadion, where they were reportedly planning to stay until the start of the game at 6 p.m.
Read more »
Pro-Palestinian protesters march to stadium ahead of World Cup qualifier between Norway and IsraelPro-Palestinian protesters have lit flares and waved flags as they marched to the stadium ahead of the World Cup qualifier between Norway and Israel in Oslo
Read more »
Israel rejects freeing prisoner Marwan Barghouti, potentially the most unifying Palestinian leaderMarwan Barghouti, the most popular -- and potentially unifying -- Palestinian leader is not among the prisoners Israel intends to free in exchange for hostages held by Hamas under the new Gaza ceasefire deal.
Read more »
Israel abusing Palestinian prisoners ahead of their release under deal with Hamas, video showsFootage shows Palestinian detainees with hands tied behind their backs, forced to walk in line, blindfolded, and bending their heads downward.
Read more »
No cheers, no filming: Israeli forces raid homes, threaten families of Palestinian prisonersIsrael warns Palestinian families not to celebrate as it arrests 10 more in the occupied West Bank raids ahead of Gaza prisoner releases.
Read more »