This upcoming Shabbos, reports indicate that 602 Palestinian terrorists are set to be released, including 157 individuals who are serving life sentences or long prison terms, alongside 445 other detainees from Gaza who were captured during the war.
One of the prisoners slated for release is Abu Ghanem, who was sentenced to three life terms and an additional 60 years. He was convicted for the brutal murders of Chaim Haviv, 78, Alon Govberg, 51, and Richard Lakin, 76, on a bus in Yerushalayim’s Armon Hanatziv neighborhood in October 2015, as well as for injuring fifteen others in the same attack. He faces charges of three counts of murder and seven counts of attempted murder.
Terrorist Nael Barghouti, aged 68, is another individual expected to be released. Barghouti was convicted for the murder of bus driver Mordechai Yakuel in January 1978 and is currently serving a 45-year sentence. He was previously freed as part of the 2011 Shalit prisoner exchange deal but was reincarcerated after breaching the terms of his release. According to reports, he is now slated for extradition.
Also on the list of those expected to be released is Khalil Jabarin, a resident of Yatta, who was responsible for the murder of Ari Fuld in 2019 at the entrance to a shopping center at the Gush Etzion intersection. Jabarin, sentenced to life in prison for his actions, is among those set for release.
Abdel Nasser Issa, a former student of the notorious Yahya Ayyash, known as “the Engineer,” is also among the individuals who will be freed. Issa was first arrested in 1984 for his involvement in a terrorist cell responsible for launching explosive devices and Molotov cocktails at IDF patrols. He served two and a half years in prison for his role in these attacks.
Approximately a month ago, Eytan Fuld, media advisor and brother of Ari Fuld, was informed that the terrorist responsible for his brother’s death would be released as part of the ongoing hostage negotiations.
Fuld responded to the news with profound conviction, stating: “The Glory of Israel does not deceive or change His mind,” encapsulating his resolve with the reminder that this is “the whole story.” While the enemy may rejoice in this temporary moment of victory, he declared, it will not last: “We know that it will happen.” Fuld continued, “Eternity is on our side. What about them? They are human scum, from whom nothing will remain, and nothing of their memory.”
In an emotional reflection, Fuld expressed the pain of knowing that the murderer of his brother would be set free. However, he clarified that his sorrow was not due to the personal loss of his brother being deemed less significant than the pain of another family suffering a similar fate. “The release of Ari’s murderer is painful,” Fuld wrote, “not because our murderer is more important than the murderer of another family. I grieve for Ari every day, in the past and in the future. My big problem, and the problem for all of us, is the next murder victim and the next families who, unfortunately, will join the group of bereaved families, following this bad deal. But before and after everything, I know that the eternity of Israel will not deceive.”
{Matzav.com Israel}