Palestinian prisoner refuses to return to Gaza in ceasefire swap, prefers to stay in israeli prison

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According to the report, the prisoner was a senior Fatah official and preferred to stay in prison than return to Gaza,​

A Palestinian prisoner set to be released on Saturday's hostage-prisoner exchange refused to board the bus to Gaza, KAN News reported.

Originally, two prisoners - who were being held at Israel's Ktzi'ot Prison - refused to be released as part of the deal with Hamas. However, one was ultimately persuaded and returned to Gaza, KAN added.

The other, however, remained and was replaced with another prisoner.

The prisoner was a senior Fatah official and preferred to stay in prison than return to Gaza, Ynet reported.

Israel released 200 terrorist prisoners on Saturday in exchange for four female soldiers. Naama Levy, Liri Elbag, Daniella Gilboa, and Karina Ariev had been held in Hamas captivity for 477 days before returning to Israel as part of the first phase of the Israel-Hamas deal.

Released Palestinian prisoners in Cairo, 26 January 2025 (credit: Hamas Telegram)

Released prisoners​

Half of the prisoners released on Saturday were serving life sentences for terror attacks.

One hundred fourteen prisoners were released from Ofer Prison and were transferred to Ramallah, 16 were taken to Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing, and 70 were deported to Egypt.