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RAMALLAH, West Bank: The most popular and potentially unifying Palestinian leader — Marwan Barghouti — is not among the prisoners Israel intends to free in exchange for hostages held by Hamas under the new Gaza ceasefire deal.
Israel has also rejected freeing other high-profile prisoners whose release Hamas has long sought, though it was not immediately clear if a list of around 250 prisoners issued Friday on the Israeli government’s official website was final.
Senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk told the Al Jazeera TV network that the group insists on the release of Barghouti and other high-profile figures and that it was in discussions with mediators.
Israel views Barghouti as a terrorist leader. He is serving multiple life sentences after being convicted in 2004 in connection with attacks in Israel that killed five people.
But some experts say Israel fears Barghouti for another reason: An advocate of a two-state solution even as he backed armed resistance to occupation, Barghouti could be a powerful rallying figure for Palestinians. Some Palestinians view him as their own Nelson Mandela, the South African anti-apartheid activist who became his country’s first Black president.
With the ceasefire and Israeli troop pullback in Gaza that came into effect Friday, Hamas is to release about 20 living Israeli hostages by Monday. Israel is to free some 250 Palestinians serving prison sentences, as well as around 1,700 people seized from Gaza the past two years and held without charge.
The releases have powerful resonance on both sides. Israelis see the prisoners as terrorists, some of them involved in suicide bombings. Many Palestinians view the thousands held by Israel as political prisoners or freedom fighters resisting decades of military occupation.
Many to be released were jailed 2 decades ago
Most of those on the Israeli prisoner list are members of Hamas and the Fatah faction arrested in the 2000s. Many of them were convicted of involvement in shootings, bombings or other attacks that killed or attempted to kill Israeli civilians, settlers and soldiers. After their release, more than half will be sent to Gaza or into exile outside the Palestinian territories, according to the list.
The 2000s 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.
One prisoner who will be freed is Iyad Abu Al-Rub, an Islamic Jihad commander convicted of orchestrating suicide bombings in Israel from 2003-2005 that killed 13 people.
The oldest and longest imprisoned to be released is 64-year-old Samir Abu Naama, a Fatah member who was arrested from the West Bank in 1986 and convicted on charges of planting explosives. The youngest is Mohammed Abu Qatish, who was 16 when he was arrested in 2022 and convicted of an attempted stabbing.
Hamas has long sought Barghouti’s freedom
Hamas leaders have in the past demanded that Israel release Barghouti, a leader of the militant group’s main political rival, Fatah, as part of any deal to end the fighting in Gaza. But Israel has refused in previous exchanges.
Israel fears history could repeat itself after it released senior Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in a 2011 exchange. The long-serving prisoner was one of the main architects of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the latest war in Gaza, and he went on to lead the militant group before being killed by Israeli forces last year.
One of the few consensus figures in Palestinian politics, Barghouti, 66, is widely seen as a potential successor to President Mahmoud Abbas, the aging and unpopular leader of the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority that runs pockets of the West Bank. Polls consistently show Barghouti is the most popular Palestinian leader.
Barghouti was born in the West Bank village of Kobar in 1959. While studying history and politics at Bir Zeit University, he helped spearhead student protests against the Israeli occupation. He emerged as an organizer in the first Palestinian uprising, which erupted in December 1987.
Israel eventually deported him to Jordan. He returned to the West Bank in the 1990s as part of interim peace agreements that created the Palestinian Authority and were meant to pave the way for a state.
After the Second Intifada broke out, Israel accused Barghouti – then head of Fatah in the West Bank — of being the leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a loose collection of Fatah-linked armed groups that carried out attacks on Israelis.
Barghouti never commented on his links to the Brigades. While he expressed hopes for a Palestinian state and Israel side by side in peace, he said Palestinians had a right to fight back in the face of growing Israeli settlements and the military’s violence against Palestinians.
“I am not a terrorist, but neither am I a pacifist,” he wrote in a 2002 editorial in The Washington Post.
Soon after, he was arrested by Israel. At trial he opted not to defend himself because he didn’t recognize the court’s authority. He was convicted of murder for involvement in several Brigades’ attacks and given five life sentences, while acquitted over other attacks.
A unifying figure throughout his imprisonment
In 2021, Barghouti registered his own list for parliamentary elections that were later called off. A few years earlier, he led more than 1,500 prisoners in a 40-day hunger strike to call for better treatment in the Israeli prison system.
Barghouti showed he could build bridges across Palestinian divisions even as he reached out to Israelis, said Mouin Rabbani, non-resident fellow at Democracy for the Arab World Now and co-editor of Jadaliyya, an online magazine focusing on the Middle East.
Barghouti is “seen as a credible national leader, someone who can lead the Palestinians in a way Abbas as consistently failed to,” he said.
Israel is “keen to avoid” that, since its policy for years has been to keep Palestinians divided and Abbas’ administration weak, Rabbani said, adding that Abbas also feels threatened by any Barghouti release.
Barghouti is not connected to the corruption that has plagued Abbas’ Palestinian Authority and turned many against it, said Eyal Zisser, the vice rector of Tel Aviv University and an expert in Arab-Israeli relations.
His popularity could strengthen Palestinian institutions, a terrifying thought for Israel’s right-wing government, which opposes any steps toward statehood, Zisser said.
Barghouti was last seen in August, when Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, posted a video of himself admonishing Barghouti inside a prison, saying Israel will confront anyone who acts against the country and “wipe them out.”

WADI GAZA, Gaza Strip: Thousands of Palestinians streamed north along the coast of Gaza on Saturday, trekking by foot, car and cart back to their abandoned homes as a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas appeared to be holding.
Israeli troops pulled back under the first phase of a US-brokered agreement reached this week to end the war, which has killed tens of thousands of people and left much of the enclave in ruins.
“It is an indescribable feeling; praise be to God,” said Nabila Basal as she traveled by foot with her daughter, who she said had suffered a head wound in the war. “We are very, very happy that the war has stopped, and the suffering has ended.”

The military confirmed the start of the ceasefire Friday, and the remaining 48 hostages, around 20 of them believed to be alive, are to be released by Monday.

Palestinians said heavy shelling in parts of Gaza earlier on Friday had mostly stopped after the military’s announcement.

Netanyahu said in a televised statement Friday that the next stages would see Hamas disarm and Gaza demilitarized.

“If this is achieved the easy way — so be it. If not — it will be achieved the hard way,” Netanyahu said. He added that Hamas agreed to the deal “only when it felt that the sword was on its neck — and it is still on its neck.”

The Israeli military has said it will continue to operate defensively from the roughly 50 percent of Gaza it still controls after pulling back to agreed-upon lines.

Meanwhile, the United Nations was given the green light by Israel to begin delivering aid into Gaza starting Sunday, a UN official said. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet made public.

The aid will include 170,000 metric tons that have already been positioned in neighboring countries such as Jordan and Egypt as humanitarian officials awaited permission from Israeli forces to restart their work.

In the last several months, the UN and its humanitarian partners have only been able to deliver 20 percent of the aid needed in the Gaza Strip, according to UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher.

People on the move

A steady stream of people, the vast majority on foot, crammed onto a coastal road in the central Gaza Strip, heading north to see what might remain of their homes. It was a repeat of emotional scenes from an earlier ceasefire in January. Others headed to other parts of the Palestinian territory in the south.

The destruction they find this time will be even greater, after Israel waged a new offensive in Gaza City, in the north, in recent weeks. The military bombed high-rises and blew up homes in what it said was an attempt to destroy Hamas’ remaining military infrastructure.

Palestinians have expressed relief that the war may end, tempered with concern about the future and lingering pain from the staggering death and destruction.

“There wasn’t much joy, but the ceasefire somewhat eased the pain of death and bloodshed, and the pain of our loved ones and brothers who suffered in this war,” said Jamal Mesbah, who was displaced from the north and plans to return.

In Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis, hundreds of Palestinians returning to their homes found wrecked buildings, rubble and destruction after Israeli troops withdrew.

“There was nothing left. Just a few clothes, pieces of wood and pots,” said Fatma Radwan, who was displaced from Khan Younis. People were still trying to retrieve bodies from under the rubble, she added.

Many buildings were flattened, and none was undamaged, as people went back to search for their belongings. “We came to a place that is unidentifiable. An unidentifiable town. Destruction is everywhere,” said Hani Omran, who was also displaced from Khan Younis.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage.

In Israel’s ensuing offensive, more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and nearly 170,000 wounded, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half the deaths were women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the United Nations and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.

The war has also triggered other conflicts in the region, sparked worldwide protests and led to allegations of genocide that Israel denies.

How the agreement is expected to unfold

Israel is set to release around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the remaining hostages. A list Israel published Friday did not include high-profile prisoner Marwan Barghouti, the most popular Palestinian leader and a potentially unifying figure. Israel views him and other high-profile prisoners as terrorists and has refused to release them in past exchanges.

Khalil Al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official and lead negotiator, said Thursday evening that all women and children held in Israeli jails will be freed.

The hostage and prisoner releases are expected to begin Monday, two Egyptian officials briefed on the talks and a Hamas official said, though another official said they could occur as early as Sunday night. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to be publicly named speaking about the negotiations.

A relative of one of the Israeli hostages believed to have died in captivity says the family is hoping that his body will be returned for burial.

“It’s a measured sense of hope in all hostage families,’’ said Stephen Brisley, whose sister, Lianne Sharabi, and her two teenage daughters were killed in the Oct. 7 attack.

Lianne’s husband, Eli Sharabi, was eventually released, but his brother, Yossi, is believed to have died in an airstrike in January 2024. The family hopes to give him a dignified burial.

“We hold our hope lightly because we’ve had our hopes dashed before,” Brisley told The Associated Press from his home in South Wales. “It still feels like a long way between the announcement of the deal and actually getting Yossi’s body back to bury him.’’

As part of the deal, five border crossings are expected to reopen, including the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, Egyptian and Hamas officials said. That will allow aid to flow into the territory, parts of which are experiencing famine.

The Trump plan calls for Israel to maintain an open-ended military presence inside Gaza, along its border with Israel. An international force, comprised largely of troops from Arab and Muslim countries, would be responsible for security inside Gaza.

To help support and monitor the ceasefire deal, US officials said they would send about 200 troops to Israel as part of a broader, international team. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not authorized for release.

The US would also lead a massive internationally funded reconstruction effort.

The plan envisions an eventual role for the Palestinian Authority — something Netanyahu has long opposed. But it requires the authority, which administers parts of the West Bank, to undergo a sweeping reform program that could take years.

The Trump plan is even more vague about a future Palestinian state, which Netanyahu firmly rejects.

Trump said he would also travel to Egypt and that other world leaders were expected to be present. 

With Agencies