The Palestinian resistance is holding a ceremony for the handover of four bodies of Zionist prisoners of the resistance killed by occupation warplanes on the morning of 20 February, in which liberation fighters, liberated Palestinian prisoners — including Mohammed Abu Warda, sentenced to 46 life sentences and freed in Toufan al-Ahrar — and the families of Palestinian martyrs, are participating. Signs on the platform make clear the response of the resistance to the Trump/Netanyahu threats of displacement and launching the assault on Gaza once again,
This event comes as the Palestinian people and the world are preparing for a significant development in the prisoner exchange, as resistance forces move toward the second phase of ceasefire negotiations in Gaza. In a speech on Tuesday, 18 February, Khalil al-Hayya, leader of Hamas, the Islamic Resistance Movement, in Gaza, said that the Palestinian resistance will turn over the bodies of four Zionist prisoners killed by the bombs of the genocidal occupation forces on Thursday, 20 February, in exchange for the release of Palestinian women and child prisoners, and will release six Zionist prisoners on Saturday, 22 February, all as part of the first stage of the ceasefire.
Under the Toufan al-Ahrar, Flood of the Free, prisoner exchange, the Zionist regime will release on Saturday, 22 February:
- 445 Palestinians seized from Gaza after 7 October 2023;
- 51 Palestinian prisoners with life sentences;
- 59 Palestinian prisoners with high sentences’
- 47 Palestinians re-arrested after their release in the Wafa’a al-Ahrar prisoner exchange in 2011;
- 200 Palestinian women and children abducted by the occupation after 7 October 2023.
Abu Obeida, the military spokesperson of the Izz el-Din al-Qassam Brigades, said:
As part of Al-Aqsa Flood deal for prisoner exchange, the resistance will hand over the bodies of the Bibas family and the body of the prisoner Oded Lifshitz tomorrow, Thursday, 20/2/2025.
They were alive before their detention centers were deliberately bombed by the zionist occupation aircraft.
Abu Hamza, spokesperson of Saraya al-Quds, said:
Saraya Al-Quds has decided to release the remains of the zionist captive Oded Lifshitz, one of the captives whom the zionist enemy deliberately killed in airstrikes during Al-Aqsa Flood battle. The release will take place tomorrow, Thursday, February 20, 2025, as part of the seventh batch of the first phase of the prisoner exchange deal.
Abu Bilal, spokesperson of the Mujahideen Brigades, said:
As part of the first phase of the prisoner exchange agreement with the Palestinian resistance, and by the will of Allah, the bodies of the Bibas family will be handed over tomorrow, Thursday, February 20, 2025. The family was captured by a group of Al-Mujahideen Brigades fighters on October 7, 2023, and were preserved and treated well in accordance with the noble teachings of Islam before being killed when the Zionist occupation bombed them, leading to their deaths along with the martyrdom of the capturing group. The Brigades have safeguarded the family’s bodies throughout the war until the date of their handover.
Amid the return of the bodies of prisoners killed by the occupation bombardment of Gaza, the National Campaign to Liberate the Bodies of the Martyrs highlighted the fact that the Zionist entity continues to detain 665 bodies of Palestinian and Arab martyrs in the morgues and numbers cemeteries, most recently those of Yousef al-Tayeh (who had been released from the Palestinian Authority’s “security coordination” prisons only hours before), Mohammed Barieh and Yousef al-Asmar, the three martyrs of al-Fara’a camp killed on Wednesday night, 19 February, by the Zionist regime; the three resistance fighters defended themselves against invading forces, besieged inside a home, until the house was bombed by the occupation forces. The invading forces then kidnapped the bodies of the martyrs.
This figure comes in addition to the abducted bodies of Palestinian martyrs from Gaza, a number that has not been disclosed; Zionist media has reported that as many as 1,500 martyred Palestinians’ bodies may be held at the Sde Teiman torture camp.
Saturday’s prisoner exchange will include the liberation of a number of prominent Palestinians serving long-term sentences. While no releases can be confirmed until the final list and their physical liberation, multiple media reports indicate that Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the heroic pediatrician and director of Kamal ‘Udwan Hospital, who kept his hospital open amid the ongoing genocide, caring for the wounded and saving lives, until he was abducted by occupation forces as they burned the hospital in December 2024, will be among the 445 Palestinians from Gaza liberated in the exchange. Dr. Abu Safiya has become a symbol of the occupation’s war on Palestinian healthcare and medical workers.
Among those expected to be liberated in this Saturday’s exchange are:
- Nael Barghouti, the longest-held Palestinian prisoner; Nael Barghouti has been imprisoned since 1978 and was repeatedly denied release until 2011, when he was liberated in the Wafaa al-Ahrar prisoner exchange. After his release, he married fellow former prisoner Iman Nafeh. On 18 June 2014, he was seized by occupation forces, who then reimposed his former sentence, along with dozens of Palestinians freed in the exchange.
- Alaa el-Din Bazian, another veteran Palestinian prisoner, who was born in Jerusalem in 1958 and joined the resistance in the Fateh movement in 1977. He was imprisoned between 1979 and 1981, then released before being arrested again and sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was liberated in 1985 in the prisoner exchange conducted by the PFLP-General Command; then re-arrested in 1986 and sentenced to life in prison. Liberated in the Wafa’ al-Ahrar exchange in 2011, he was re-abducted in 2014, and his original sentence re-imposed.
- Samer Mahroum, from Jenin, imprisoned since 1986 as one of the comrades of Omar Nayef Zayed, liberated in the Wafa al-Ahrar exchange in 2011. Like Alaa el-Din Bazian and Nael Barghouti, he was re-arrested in 2014 and his original sentence re-imposed. He married only two months before his re-arrest, and while imprisoned, had two children through liberated sperm — his son Adam and daughter Yasmine.
- Abdul-Nasser Issa, imprisoned since 1995. Born in Balata refugee camp in Nablus in 1968, who joined the Hamas movement upon its launch and then the al-Qassam Brigades, carrying out multiple operations as a comrade of Mohammed Deif, Yahya Ayyash and Muhyideen al-Sharif. Serving 2 life sentences, he became one of the leaders of the prisoners’ movement, serving as the representative of Hamas prisoners and one of the architects of the 2006 Prisoners’ Document, as well as writing multiple articles and studies behind bars.
- Othman Bilal, imprisoned since 1995. Born in 1969 in Nablus, he joined the Hamas movement from its inception and its military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades Sentenced to 27 life sentences, he worked closely with Abdul-Nasser Issa, Yahya Ayyash and Muhyideen al-Sharif in carrying out multiple resistance operations. His brother Muath Bilal is sentenced to 26 life sentences plus 25 years and his brother Obada was deported to Turkey following his release in the Wafa al-Ahrar exchange.
- Ammar al-Zaben, imprisoned since 1998. Born in Nablus in 1975, he is married, with two sons and two daughters. He joined the al-Qassam Brigades, joining a cell with the specific goal of capturing occupation soldiers in order to exchange them to liberate Palestinian prisoners. He is considered the first Palestinian prisoner to use liberated sperm to have children with his wife. He is sentenced to 27 life sentences plus 25 years; his mother was martyred in 2004 as she participated in a hunger strike in solidarity with the striking Palestinian prisoners inside occupation jails.
The Palestinian Resistance has repeatedly insisted on moving forward with the second round of the ceasefire agreement, including the occupation fulfilling its responsibilities in the first round, such as allowing the entry of heavy construction equipment and mobile homes into Gaza, as well as fully withdrawing from all occupied areas. In the meantime, the occupation, working hand in hand with the United States and its imperialist partners, is avidly seeking to block the progress of the ceasefire, issuing threats to displace Palestinians while demanding that Palestinian resistance forces disarm and that the leadership leave Gaza, while all Palestinians have remained clear that the future of Gaza is solely a Palestinian future. In a recent speech at the Al Jazeera Forum, Osama Hamdan, Hamas leader, said: “Internal affairs are a Palestinian decision, and whoever wants to replace ‘Israel,’ we will treat them as ‘Israel’—clearly. Whoever wants to act as an agent for ‘Israel’ must bear the consequences of being its agent. The issue of the resistance’s weapons, the resistance’s leaders, the resistance’s people, and our relationship with the resistance’s supporters, all of this is outside of any discussion. It is impossible for us to accept anyone talking to us about it, and we will not allow it to be brought up at all.”
The Resistance also once again issued a clear proposal to exchange all Zionist prisoners held by the resistance for all Palestinian prisoners held in Zionist jails, the “all for all” exchange called for by the resistance since 7 October 2023.
The Zionist regime has routinely and repeatedly violated the ceasefire agreement, including through blocking the entry of tents, mobile homes and heavy construction equipment; sniping Palestinians throughout Gaza, including killing three Gaza police officers organizing the reception and distribution of aid in Rafah; and blocking aid to northern Gaza, not to mention its ongoing assaults on Palestinians throughout the West Bank.
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