Nael Barghouti and fellow liberated prisoners arrive today in Turkey

Today, six Palestinian prisoners liberated in the Toufan al-Ahrar exchange traveled to Turkey from Egypt; all six had been part of the group of liberated life sentence and long sentence prisoners deported to Egypt as part of the exchange.

Among them is Nael Barghouti, the longest-held Palestinian prisoner in Zionist jails, who served 44 years in occupation prisons over 2 terms of imprisonment. Liberated in 2011 in the Wafa al-Ahrar exchange, he was re-arrested in 2014 and his prior sentence reimposed. During his liberation, he married fellow liberated prisoner Iman Nafeh, who has been barred by the occupation from traveling from Palestine to see her husband.

The six who arrived in Turkey today are:
1. Nael Barghouti
2. Rabie Shibli
3. Shadi Odeh
4. Omar Taha al-Rimawi
5. Yousri al-Joulani
6. Ismail Hijazi

Nael Barghouti, Rabie Shibli, Shadi Odeh, Yousri al-Joulani and Ismail Hijazi are all re-arrested Wafa al-Ahrar releasees, while Omar Taha al-Rimawi, who was serving a life sentence, is 23 years old; he was arrested when he was 14 for participating in a resistance operation at an illegal colonial settlement.

Turkey had previously received three groups of liberated prisoners in the exchange, as reported by the Prisoners’ Media Office:

• First group: 15 liberated prisoners

• Second group: 2 liberated prisoners

• Third group: 13 liberated prisoners

Thus, the number of those who had arrived before the latest group was 30 freed prisoners, namely:

1. Ishaq Taher Salah Arafah

2. Bahjat Mahmoud Jamil Shqeirat

3. Ramadan Eid Ramadan Mashahrah

4. Sajed Ahmad Salim Abu Ghalous

5. Ammar Sidqi Salim Abu Ghalous

6. Fahmi Eid Ramadan Mashahrah

7. Muhammad Odeh Ishaq Odeh

8. Lillah Ayyoub Muhammad Abu Rjaila

9. Saed Abd al-Samih Suleiman Zaid

10. Muayyad Shukri Abd al-Hamid Hammad

11. Mudhar Musa Ahmad Abudayyeh

12. Mahmoud Hammad Mahmoud Shreiteh

13. Musa Adam Salem Akhleil

14. Shadi Abd al-Sameea Suleiman Zaid

15. Mahmoud Asaad Mahmoud Issa

16. Murad Barghouthi

17. Jihad al-Najjar

18. Ahmad Aref Khalil al-Asafrah

19. Ahmad Qasem Jamil Abu Awad

20. Ragheb Ahmad Muhammad Aleiwi

21. Raed Issa Muhammad al-Hroub

22. Raafat Raji Mahmoud al-Battat

23. Abdel-Nasser Atallah Shaker Issa

24. Othman Said Ahmad Said

25. Alaa Rateb Abd al-Latif Qabaha

26. Imad Naeem Saleh al-Sharif

27. Muhammad Khalil Adnan Dawoud Abu Sneineh

28. Haitham Ismail Abd al-Fattah al-Battat

29. Youssef Hassan Ahmad Qaisiya

30. Youssef Khaled Mustafa Kamil

It is worth noting that the first phase of the ceasefire agreement went into effect on January 19, during which the occupation forces released 1,777 Palestinian prisoners in the Toufan al-Ahrar exchange, including:

• Prisoners serving life sentences and long-term sentences

• Re-arrested prisoners from the “Wafa al-Ahrar” deal

• Prisoners from Gaza detained after October 7

• Women and children

Malaysia had received 15 freed prisoners over the past two weeks under the framework of the Toufan al-Ahrar deal, and arrangements are currently underway to receive additional groups of freed prisoners in other countries soon.

Efforts to receive the liberated prisoners in other countries have been reportedly hindered by the interference of the Palestinian Authority, which has imposed delays on issuing passports, especially for the Fateh liberated prisoners, the veterans of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades of the Second, Al-Aqsa Intifada.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes all of the liberated prisoners on their freedom and urges all to welcome and salute the freed prisoners and to work for the liberation of the 10,000 Palestinian prisoners behind Zionist bars.