How dangerous are the released Palestinians?
Israel has already released Palestinian prisoners once in return for an Israeli kidnapped by Hamas. One of them is now considered the mastermind behind the mass murder on October 7. Could history repeat itself now? Or will only victims of arbitrary justice be released this time?
As part of the agreement with Hamas, Israel releases three Palestinian prisoners for every Israeli hostage released by terrorists. The accounts of who these prisoners are differ widely. While Israel speaks of convicted and accused terrorists, Palestinian accounts emphasize that they are children and women who are victims of arbitrary justice by the Israeli occupiers. Neither position stands up to close scrutiny.
Before the start of the ceasefire and the exchange, the Israeli Ministry of Justice presented a list of 300 prisoners who fulfill the conditions of the agreement: Women and prisoners up to the age of 18. If the exchange goes according to plan during the four-day ceasefire, 150 of them are likely to be released in return for 50 Israeli hostages held by the terrorists. The vast majority of the prisoners listed are actually teenagers and adults aged 17 or 18. The youngest prisoner is 14 years old. This means that there are no children under the age of criminal responsibility.
However, prisoners who could be described as criminals or even terrorists by constitutional standards are only a minority among those released. Around 50 of them have been convicted by a court. The rest have been remanded in custody, some for more than a year. Most of those convicted were sentenced by the Israeli military justice system in the occupied West Bank. This justice system is part of the Israeli military and, according to the unanimous assessment of Israeli, Palestinian and international human rights activists, does not meet the standards of constitutional justice. Forced confessions, interrogations without legal counsel or of minors without parents have been documented many times. Time and again, these courts hand down prison sentences of months or years to juvenile defendants for offenses such as throwing stones at soldiers or individual posts on social networks. Prisoners with such offenses are also on the list of those who may be released. Since only Palestinians, but not settlers or other Israelis in the West Bank, are subject to this military justice system, it also contributes to the fact that Israel is repeatedly accused of having established an apartheid system.
Murderers and administrative detainees not part of the deal
Palestinian prisoners in so-called administrative detention are not part of the deal with Hamas. This internationally highly controversial practice allows Israel to detain Palestinians indefinitely without even informing them of the charges against them. The Israeli authorities justify this by stating that in some cases they need to protect intelligence officers and their sources. In the wake of waves of arrests in the West Bank since the Hamas terror attack on 7 October this year, the number of administrative detainees has risen from around 1,300 to more than 2,000, according to the Israeli human rights organization HaMoked.
However, concerns that radical perpetrators of violence will be released as part of the deal are by no means unfounded. Some prisoners on the Israeli list are serving sentences of up to 16 years for attempted murder, including knife attacks on civilians. However, terrorists convicted of completed murder are not part of the exchange.
The example of Jahja Sinwar is repeatedly cited to highlight the danger posed by the release of potentially violent prisoners. Sinwar, who was convicted of several murders of other Palestinians, was released in 2011 as one of more than 1,000 prisoners in exchange for the soldier Gilat Schalit, who had been kidnapped as a hostage by Hamas, and deported to Gaza. He subsequently rose to become Hamas' most powerful man in the Gaza Strip and is considered the mastermind behind the terrorist attack on October 7.
Terrorists comparable to Sinwar, who was already known as the "Butcher of Chan Junis", are not on the list of prisoners to be released this time. The greatest threat to Israel's security lies in another aspect of the deal with Hamas. While the terrorists are under massive pressure as a result of the massive destruction and probably more than 14,000 deaths in the Gaza Strip caused by the war they triggered, they can now be celebrated as liberators in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. This strengthens the Islamists, whose "annihilation" Israel's government has set as a war goal, and creates a further precedent that kidnapping Israeli citizens pays off.
The Middle East conflict has seen instances where Israel has released Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli hostages taken by groups like Hamas. The Gaza Strip and West Bank are areas significantly impacted by this conflict, with prisoners often being held in Israeli custody. Recently, concerns have arisen about the possibility of dangerous individuals being released, such as Jahja Sinwar, who was previously released and later became a powerful figure in Hamas, known for his involvement in numerous murders. The potential release of these individuals could potentially escalate tensions in the region, further fueling the Middle East conflict.
Source: www.ntv.de
