Agreement between Hamas and Israel: voices are raised within the Hebrew state against the release of Palestinian prisoners

The agreement reached between Hamas and Israel, under the mediation of Egypt, the United States and Qatar, is not unanimous. Israeli associations and political figures opposed, this Wednesday, November 22, the release of Palestinians currently detained by the Jewish state. In total, 150 prisoners - whose names will be chosen from a list of 300 established by Israel - will regain their freedom, according to the agreement. Most of them are men aged 18 or younger, and 13 are women. In exchange, Hamas must release 50 hostages captured on October 7.

This Wednesday morning, several associations filed an appeal before the Supreme Court of Israel, as authorized by law, to try to prevent the release of these Palestinian prisoners. Among them, the Almagor association which brings together families of victims of terrorism in Israel, created in 1986. Its founder, Meir Indoor, and a member of the board of directors, Dr. Aryeh Bachrach, sent a letter to the Minister of Justice Yariv Levin, indicates the Israeli newspaper Times of Israel.

These prisoners are “mostly adolescents aged 14 to 18, convicted of terrorism, ranging from minor acts such as stone throwing to assassinations,” explains Me Yomtob Kalfon, lawyer in Jerusalem and former deputy, from a right-wing party. , in the Knesset (Israeli parliament, Editor’s note). The politician notably mentions the case of one of the 13 prisoners who will be released. Nafoz Hamad, aged under 18, was sentenced to 12 years in prison earlier this month for stabbing a mother of five without causing her death, the Times of Israel reports. “Seeing these prisoners released is a pain for the families of the victims, members of the association,” explains Yomtob Kalfon. They believe that a convicted person should never get out.”

The Supreme Court “should render its decision in the evening”, indicates the former deputy, but the association’s request has “little chance of succeeding”, he warns. “There is no precedent where the Supreme Court has prevented the release of prisoners, not even in 2011,” he continues. The Israeli lawyer refers to the release of 1,027 prisoners in 2011, in exchange for Gilad Shalit, a young Franco-Israeli soldier held hostage in Gaza for 5 years. Among these released Palestinian detainees was Yahya Sinwar, who is today one of the leaders of Hamas and considered the alleged mastermind of the October 7 massacre.

This agreement divided Israeli public opinion, some of which were concerned about the price to pay for the soldier's release and the consequences of these prisoner releases. “183 Israelis have lost their lives since 2000 because of released terrorists,” Almagor estimated at the time to justify his opposition to the exchange.

Also read: Israel-Hamas: the intertwined fates of Israeli captives and Palestinian prisoners

Which explains why political figures, mainly from the right, today oppose the release of Palestinian prisoners. “Releasing these prisoners to save the life of one or more Israeli hostages puts hundreds of other lives at risk. Because the State is releasing terrorists who can strike hard again, like Yahya Sinwar did,” protests Yomtob Kalfon. On Tuesday, the Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, also castigated the agreement, even before it was formalized. “The State of Israel will once again make a very, very big mistake in the style of the Shalit agreement (released in 2011, NLDR),” he declared. Yomtob Kalfon nevertheless recognizes that the Hebrew State is facing a “Cornelian dilemma”.

Instead of releasing Palestinian prisoners, politicians opposed to the agreement prefer, according to the former MP, “to go harder in the military offensive in order to bring Hamas to its knees. Which would force him to release hostages and, in return, allow us to release fewer prisoners.” Because for Yomtob Kalfon, releasing Palestinian prisoners gives “a breath of fresh air” to Hamas, “which is not yet on the ground,” he recalls.