History of Israeli-Arab prisoner exchanges

October 18, 2011 is a turning point in the Palestinian struggle against the Israeli occupation—a day when nationwide appreciation of the Palestinian resistance was exhibited.

After 72 years since the occupation of Palestine in 1948, Palestinian people suffering from the occupation and Palestinian captives in Zionist regime’s jails have been one of the main sections of the Palestinian society, which has been in the worst situation.

In a condition that the Zionists are sentencing hundreds of Palestinian captives to hundreds of years in prison with severe punishments, and there is no hope for their release other than the capture of Zionist soldiers and the exchange operation, various Palestinian groups, especially resistance groups, have chosen the capture of Zionist militants as the best way to force the occupiers to release captives from the regime's prisons.

Overview

Arrangements for prisoner exchanges between Arab governments and Zionist regime date back to 1948. During the early 1980s, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Zionist regime exchanged prisoners, the most famous of which is known as the “Jibril Deal” in May 1985. Through third-party negotiations, Zionist regime and Hezbollah carried out three prisoner exchanges starting in 1996. Attempts to secure the release of Palestinian political prisoners through negotiations often failed because Zionist regime regularly suspended talks over prisoners or renegotiated established criteria for their release. When negotiations resulted in an agreement, Zionist regime ignored deadlines for the releases, released nonpolitical prisoners and claimed it had fulfilled its obligations, or simply dismissed agreements.

Israeli- Hezbollah Prisoner Exchanges

To date, there have been three prisoner exchange deals between Zionist regime and Hezballah, the details of which follow.

In July 1996, Hezbollah released the remains of two Zionist troops, Joseph Fink and Rahamim Alsheich, in exchange for the remains of 123 Lebanese soldiers. On the same day, Hezballah released 25 members of the South Lebanon Army (SLA), an army loyal to Zionist regime. In exchange the SLA released 25 Lebanese prisoners from the Khima Prison in south Lebanon.

In June 1998, Hezbollah returned the remains of Sergeant First Class Itamar Ilya in exchange for the remains of 40 Hezbollah forces, among them the body of Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah’s son who was killed in 1997. The deal also included the release of Lebanese prisoners. The bodies of the Hezbollah forces were transported by a French aircraft.

In January 2004, in the largest prisoner exchange, Hezbollah released a total of 436 prisoners including 400 Palestinians; 23 Lebanese; two Syrians; three Moroccans; three Sudanese; a Libyan; and a German Muslim. Israel also returned the remains of 59 Lebanese soldiers. Israel received the remains of three Israel soldiers and the release of Elhanan Tennenbaum who Hezbollah claimed was an Zionist regime’s intelligence officer. Sheikh Abdel Kareem Obaid, who Israel kidnapped from Lebanese territory in 1989, and Sheikh Mustafa Dirani, kidnapped in 1994, were among those released by Israel in exchange for its three soldiers and intelligence officer.

Israeli-PLO Prisoner Exchanges

In 1983, six Zionist troops, held prisoner for more than 14 months by the PLO were exchanged for 4,500 Palestinian prisoners. As a result the Ansar prison camp in southern Lebanon was closed. The most famous prisoner swap between Zionist regime and the PLO was in May 1985. In exchange for three Zionist troops held by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command (PFLP-GC), Zionist regime released 1,150 Palestinian political prisoners. The exchange was called the “Jibril Deal” after the leader of the PFLP-GC, Ahmad Jibril.

Jordanian and U.S. Intervention

In an assassination attempt on Hamas’ Damascus-based Khaled Mashaal in September 1997, the Zionist regime’s Mossad, under orders from Zionist regime’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu injected Mashaal who was living in Jordan at the time with a toxic substance. Two Mossad agents were arrested and the Israeli covert action was revealed. Jordan’s King Hussein demanded the antidote and Israel, after pressure from U.S. President Bill Clinton, provided the antidote. In exchange for the two Mossad agents, Israel released Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the founder and spiritual leader of Hamas who was serving a life sentence in Israel. Israel assassinated Yassin in the Gaza Strip in 2004.

Israel and Hamas

About twelve years before Hamas’ 25 June 2006 capture of Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit in Gaza, Zionist trooper Nachshon Wachsman was taken prisoner in October 1994. Zionist regime said it would not negotiate a release with Hamas. Then- Zionist regime’s Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin decided on a military option to free the Zionist trooper. The Zionist regime’s commando raid on a house in Bir Nabala near Jerusalem not only left the Hamas captors dead but with them Wachsman.

Hamas has demanded the release of all female and minor Palestinian prisoners held by Zionist regime in exchange for Shalit.

Palestinian Political Prisoners

According to the Ramallah-based Mandela Institute for Human Rights, there are 9,600 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails and detention centers, among them 130 Palestinian women. Defense for Children International puts the number of Palestinian children in Israeli custody at 388.

According to a recent poll by the Jerusalem Media and Communication Center (JMCC), 69 percent of Palestinians insist on an exchange for Shalit’s release. The high support for a prisoner exchange stems from the sensitivity of the prisoner issue within Palestinian society. The vast majority of Palestinians have been directly or indirectly affected by Israel’s policy of arbitrary or blanket arrests and hold deep resentment for political violations of their leaders’ authority and autonomy.

Israel’s imprisonment and detention of Palestinians is an example of its failure to abide by international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention. Administrative detentions, imprisonment without due process and imprisonment inside Israel are both illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Furthermore, Palestinian captives are routinely tortured by Zionist regime and held in detention centers and prisons that do not meet the minimum international standards and are routinely denied visitation rights by their legal representation and family members. The vast majority of Palestinian prisoners are held without trial. According to Amnesty International, the trials that do take place often fall short of international fair trial standards.

Zionist regime’s failure to release Palestinian political captives and its continued arbitrary arrest of Palestinian civilians serves only to highlight Israel’s belief that it is above the law and that the Palestinians are beneath it.