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SvennoJ on 11 October 2025
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‘Palestinian prisoners to be freed do not include prominent names’

In exchange for Israeli captives, Israel will release 1,700 Palestinians who were disappeared from Gaza during the war as well as 250 who were sentenced to life in Israeli military courts.

The names do not include prominent national figures that Hamas had requested – such as Marwan al-Barghouti, a well-known Fatah leader.

Those who will be released also do not include some figures that our viewers are familiar with during the war – such as Dr Hussam Abu Safia, who stayed by his patients as he treated them until the last minute before the Israeli forces detained him.

The Israeli prison authority has reported moving the Palestinians set to be released and gathering them in one location. The exchange is expected to take place, possibly on Monday.


Who is Marwan Barghouti? The Palestinian leader that Israel doesn’t want to release

  • Born in the Palestinian village of Kobar in the occupied West Bank in 1959, Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti is known for his commitment to a two-state solution and his ability to unite fractured Palestinian politics.
  • After joining the secular Palestinian movement Fatah as a teenager, Barghouti went on to become its leader in the occupied West Bank in 1994.
  • He is currently serving five consecutive life sentences for attempted murder and membership in an armed organisation after being sentenced by an Israeli military court in 2002.
  • Barghouti offered no defence, refusing to recognise the authority of the Israeli court and saying only that he supported the armed resistance but opposed the targeting of civilians.
  • Barghouti has continued his advocacy from prison, including as one of the authors of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Document, which called for the establishment of two states, with resistance to Israeli occupation limited to military targets within the territory seized by Israel in the 1967 war.
  • There have been calls for Barghouti to be released as part of the forthcoming exchange on Monday of Palestinian prisoners for captives held in Gaza.


Barghouti has often drawn comparisons to Mandela from commentators inclined toward a resumption of the peace process. For example, Reuters reported that some see Barghouti "as a Palestinian Nelson Mandela, the man who could galvanize a drifting and divided national movement if only he were set free by Israel."

Israel rather releases fanatics, they won't release those advocating for a 2-state solution. All Israel is interested in is more excuses to resume the genocide.