Palestinians wait to see if Israel will uphold prisoner swap deal

After the postponement of the approval of the ceasefire plan by the Israeli occupation three times on day 734 of the genocide in Gaza, October 9, Phase 1 of Trump’s 20 point plan to end the genocide has finally been signed of by both parties, and a suspension of hostilities began after the Israeli parliament vote.

Implementation of Phase 1 of ceasefire plan to be implemented 72 hours after partial withdrawal of Israeli forces.

Prisoner swap agreement

According to the ceasefire deal, the following steps are to be implemented when it comes to the release of Palestinian and Israeli prisoners, on Monday:

‘Within 72 hours of the withdrawal of Israeli forces, all Israeli hostages, living and deceased, held in Gaza will be released’.
‘As soon as the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) completes the withdrawal, Hamas will commence investigating the status of the hostages and collect all information pertaining to them’, and an exchange of information about Israeli and Palestinian prisoners will take place.
‘Within the 72 hours, Hamas will release all living hostages including those held by the Palestinian factions in Gaza’.
‘Within the 72 hours, Hamas will release the remains of the deceased hostages in its possession and those in the possession of the Palestinian factions in Gaza’
‘Hamas will share, within the 72 hours, all the information it obtained relating to any remaining deceased hostages’
‘Israel will provide information on the remains of the deceased Gazans held by Israel’

No media coverage of prisoner swap

The ceasefire agreement also states that the exchange of prisoners, which is due to take place after the Israeli occupation forces have withdrawn to their new positions in Gaza, will be carried out through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), ‘without any public ceremonies or media coverage’.

This morning media outlets reported that the Israeli occupation’s military has started to withdraw to the line agreed to under the ceasefire plan, with thousands of displaced Palestinian families already starting to make their way back to the north of the Gaza Strip.

There are thought to be 48 Israeli captives being held in Gaza, 20 of whom are believed to still be alive, and the deal states that for every one Israeli body, 15 Palestinian bodies will be returned.

250 Palestinian life-prisoners to be freed but face deportation

The list of Palestinian prisoners who will be released in exchange for the Israeli prisoners has also now been published. In exchange for all living and dead Israeli prisoners, the occupation has agreed to release 250 out of the 270 Palestinian life prisoners who are currently imprisoned in Israel. 15 of these people will be freed to East Jerusalem, 100 to the West Bank, and 135 are expected to be deported, either to Gaza, or a neighbouring country which agrees to take them, such as Turkey or Qatar. But the list does not include several Palestinians who are seen as symbols of resistance, whom Hamas were calling to be released.

And, 1,700 residents of Gaza, and 22 minors, who have been arrested since October 7, 2023, but were not involved in the events of that day will also be released. Around 360 bodies of Palestinian prisoners will also be handed over to Hamas. Once released, according to the Israeli occupation, these prisoners will either be sent to Gaza, or a neighbouring country which agrees to take them, such as Turkey or Qatar.

Will the ceasefire hold after the Israeli prisoners are returned?

But given the Israeli regime’s track record, there is very little reason to believe it will honour any ceasefire, once the Israeli prisoners, a vital source of leverage for Hamas, will all be released. It has also already gone back on its word regarding the prisoner swap, according to Middle East Eye, which claims mediators had already signed off on a prisoner list, which included the prominent Palestinian prisoner, Marwan Barghouti, who has long been seen as a unifying figure, but Israel has now ‘secretly removed’ his name from it at the last minute. Imprisoned during the Second Intifada, in 2002, Barghouti had 26 charges of murder and attempted murder against him. He has consistently denied all the claims, but is serving five life sentences, plus an extra 40 years.

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamden, has called on the world to:

monitor Israel’s behaviour towards implementing the agreement.

After two years of this brutal genocide in Gaza, the Israeli occupation has still failed to achieve both of its main stated aims of destroying Hamas, and returning the hostages, although its real goal is to ethnically cleanse Gaza of as many Palestinians as possible – which has also failed. It now remains to be seen what happens once these hostages are returned. The Israeli regime is not to be trusted. In March 2025, Israel broke the ceasefire deal which had been in place since January, killing more than 400 Palestinians in just a few hours, once it had resumed its military activity. Its actions made clear that it never truly intended to leave Gaza or stop the genocide.

Why should this time be any different?

Featured image via the Canary