Hamas Demands 303 Terrorists Freed for Hostage Deal

Citing Hamas sources, Channel 12 news sets out what it says are a series of Hamas demands that the terror group is going to make in the talks in Egypt, aimed at finalizing the release of all Israeli hostages in the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza.

Among these is a Hamas demand for the release of several of the most notorious Palestinian terrorists in exchange for the hostages, the report says.

These include Marwan Barghouti, the Fatah Tanzim chief jailed for multiple murders in the Second Intifada; Ahmad Sa’adat, secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine; Ibrahim Hamed, serving 45 life terms for orchestrating the killings of numerous Israelis as Hamas’s West Bank commander during the second intifada; Abbas al-Sayed, who orchestrated the 2002 bombing at the Park Hotel in Netanya in which 39 Israelis were killed, and Hamas’s Hassan Salameh, who is serving 48 life terms for multiple suicide bombings.

Channel 12 cites a Hamas source saying it “won’t give up” on securing the release of these and other life-term terrorists, whose release Israel has vetoed in previous deals, “even at the cost of dooming the deal.”

There are currently 303 security prisoners serving life sentences in Israel.

Channel 12 further reports that the Hamas delegation under Khalil al-Hayya will also be negotiating simultaneously with a Palestinian Authority team, as it seeks to ensure that the initial mechanism for “day after” Gaza includes the PA.

The TV report says PA President Mahmoud Abbas is promising PA reforms, including the formulation of a temporary constitution within three months and elections within a year, in which Hamas could participate only if it accepts Israel’s right to exist.

Channel 12 cites the Hamas sources as saying the group is also demanding a larger initial IDF withdrawal than is shown on the map that Trump issued yesterday — to what it says are the lines where the IDF was deployed in January.

It also wants guarantees that there will ultimately be a full IDF withdrawal from Gaza, with a timetable.

A separate, unsourced Channel 12 report says Hamas is demanding that Hamas Nukhba terrorists who took part in the October 7, 2023, invasion and massacre be freed — a demand Israel has consistently rejected.