In the exchange deal between Israel and Hamas, Israel agreed to release 150 terrorist prisoners - among them teen terrorists - in return for 50 Israeli female and child hostages captured by Hamas during its terror attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
Palestinians and others abroad have shockingly compared the innocent Israeli civilian hostages to the Palestinian terrorists imprisoned for terror attacks.
Thus, PLO Ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot referred to Palestinian terrorist prisoners and Israeli civilian captives as one and the same thing - “hostages”:
PLO Ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot: “It is good news that
hostages will be released from both sides, and while the world is hailing the release of 50 Israeli hostages – good for them – nobody is talking about the hundreds of Palestinian children that will be released, that have been taken hostage by Israel even before the 7th of October (refers to Palestinian terrorist prisoners released in exchange deal during Israeli counter-terror operation against Hamas’ terror war on Israel; see note below -Ed.)
… So this is an opportunity to expose the rotten, corrupted system of racial domination that Israel has erected in the entire occupied Palestinian territories."
[PLO Ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot, X (Twitter) account,
Nov. 23, 2023]
An interviewer with CNN challenged Zomlot’s equating Palestinian terrorist prisoners with Israeli civilian hostages:
CNN interviewer: “When we look at the pictures of how
those [Israeli] people [who] were kidnapped, elderly women thrown over motorbikes screaming, taken over the border, shoved down tunnels, kept in dark – there is a quantitative and qualitative difference in the mode of detention between the two.”
[CNN Arabic, X (Twitter) account, Nov. 25, 2023]
Zomlot answered by denying any responsibility by terror organization Hamas, belittling the brutal kidnappings of Israelis of all ages, and claiming they were “done by individuals” whereas the Palestinian terrorist “hostages” were “kidnapped” by “a state”:
Husam Zomlot: “
I'll tell you what's the difference. I'll really tell you what's the difference. The difference is the first is done by individuals (sic., by Hamas), but the second is done by a state, by a state that sponsored an army… It is
disgraceful to even draw any equity between a state that is a member of the UN, that is Israel and its responsibility under international law,
andbetween individuals (sic., Hamas), so in fact the lack of equity is to focus on 'responsible' - between parentheses – actors, that they should perform in full accordance of international law.”
[CNN Arabic, X (Twitter) account, Nov. 25, 2023]
Asked about Israel’s definition of the released prisoners as “terrorists,” Zomlot responded that for Israel “every Palestinian is a terrorist” and every person siding with “Palestine” is too:
Sky News interviewer: “The Israelis say that some of the people,
some of the women and children in that group, are terrorists. How do you react and respond to that?”
Husam Zomlot: “Well,
for the Israelis every Palestinian is a terrorist. For the Israelis
every human being who supports our rights, everybody who calls for the end of the occupation is an antisemite. For the Israelis
every Jewish person who supports our rights is a self-hating Jew.”
[PLO Ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot, X (Twitter) account,
Nov. 23, 2023]
One such teen terrorist who Zomlot refers to as an innocent child “hostage” was Yazan Al-Hasanat, a 17-year-old member of the PFLP terror organization who was held under administrative detention from June 22, 2023, until his release in the deal. Upon his release, Al-Hasanat praised Hamas’ “achievements” that led to his and other terrorists’ release:
Released terrorist prisoner Yazan Al-Hasanat: “We will empty the prisons. The prisoners’ situation requires resistance (i.e., terror) that will release them… The resistance is with blood, with weapons. The prisoners do not want peaceful resistance. They want resistance that will fight so they will triumph. All the prisoners are in favor of the resistance… We are very proud of the resistance (i.e., Hamas), of the resistance’s achievements, and satisfied with what is happening in the Gaza Strip, with the abductions, the abduction of the captives (i.e., Israeli hostages).”
[Quds News Network, Twitter account, Nov. 26, 2023]
At the time of the prisoner exchange for Israeli hostages, PA Chairman Abbas’ advisor Mahmoud Al-Habbash also referred to all imprisoned Palestinian terrorists as “hostages” who have a “right to breathe free air”:
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash: “It is the right of these brothers, sisters, and sons to breathe free air (i.e., terrorist prisoners released in Israeli-Hamas ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal). We think that
it is the right of every Palestinian to achieve his freedom and leave the Israeli prisons, because they are hostages in the hands of the occupation state (i.e., Israel), and without a doubt it is their right to be released and their families’ right to rejoice.”
[PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Facebook page, Nov. 24, 2023]
The following is more information on the war and the terrorist mentioned above, and a longer excerpt of some of the statements cited above:
Yazan Al-Hasanat - 17-year-old Palestinian member of the PFLP terror organization held under administrative detention from June 22, 2023, until his release in the prisoner exchange deal starting on Nov. 24, 2023, between Israel and Hamas in which Israel agreed to release 150 terrorist prisoners, pause drone surveillance in the Gaza Strip, and allow movement between the northern and southern Gaza Strip, in return for 50 Israeli female and child hostages held by Hamas during the Israeli counter-terror operation against Hamas’ terror war on Israel.
Hamas war on Israel October 2023 - At least 1,200 Israelis, including over 1,000 civilians, were murdered and over 4,800 wounded, in addition to approximately 244 (including 110 later released or liberated and at least 26 later killed) who were abducted into the Gaza Strip, in a Hamas terror war that began when approximately 3,000 Hamas terrorists broke through Israel's security fence at the Gaza Strip border and launched a surprise attack, taking control of several Israeli towns and attacking a music festival on the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, which fell on the Sabbath, Oct. 7, 2023. During the massacre the terrorists tortured, raped, shot, beheaded, and burned their victims alive, murdering entire families and leaving at least 21 children without parents. Hamas terrorists also fired at least 5,000 rockets at Israeli population centers. In response, Israel launched Operation Iron Swords to counter the Hamas terror threat. Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon joined Hamas' terror war starting from the following day, attacking Israel from the north. Occasional rocket launches and shootings continued from Lebanon throughout the war. A ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal began on Nov. 24, 2023, in which Israel agreed to release 150 terrorist prisoners, pause drone surveillance in the Gaza Strip, and allow movement between the northern and southern Gaza Strip, in return for 50 Israeli female and child hostages held by Hamas. The deal was subsequently extended with additional releases, until Hamas violated the agreement and resumed attacking on Dec. 1, 2023.
English-language interview with PLO Ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot on British Sky News:
PLO Ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot: “It is good news that
hostages will be released from both sides, and while the world is hailing the release of 50 Israeli hostages – good for them – nobody is talking about the hundreds of Palestinian children that will be released, that have been taken hostage by Israel even before the 7th of October (refers to Palestinian terrorist prisoners released in exchange deal during Israeli counter-terror operation against Hamas’ terror war on Israel; see note below -Ed.)
… So this is an opportunity to expose the rotten, corrupted system of racial domination that Israel has erected in the entire occupied Palestinian territories."
Sky News interviewer: “Mr. Zomlot, I just want to ask you on that point that you've just made about the Palestinian prisoners, because there is an expectation that 150 Palestinian women and children will also be released from Israeli prisons.
The Israelis say that some of the people, some of the women and children in that group, are terrorists. How do you react and respond to that?”
Husam Zomlot: “
Well, for the Israelis every Palestinian is a terrorist. For the Israelis every human being who supports our rights, everybody who calls for the end of the occupation is an antisemite. For the Israelis every Jewish person who supports our rights is a self-hating Jew. They have ready labels for everybody. Our children are children, they deserve love, protection. They deserve a different future, and never in the history have we seen rounding [up] children without charge, without trial, without access to their parents or even lawyers (sic., aside from the terrorists held under administrative detention, many of the released terrorists had been tried and convicted)
. This is savagery. What Israel has been allowed to do has really demolished all the rules that we have built together after the horrors of World War II. The international system, the rules-based international system, was based on two things: The first is that war should never be the first option, and this was [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu's war of choice, because he waged a war against our people, our children, our hospitals, our schools – a war of choice. This was not a war between Netanyahu and Hamas, this was an Israeli aggression against our people.”
[PLO Ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot, X (Twitter) account,
Nov. 23, 2023]
English-language interview with PLO Ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot on CNN Arabic:
CNN Arabic interviewer: “We are apt to lose sight of the fact, when we talk about hostages being released etc. etc., but these people – 85-year-old women, 9-year-old boys shoved on motorbikes (refers to Israelis taken captive during Hamas’ invasion and massacre to launch its terror war on Israel; see note below -Ed.). These people were kidnapped by Hamas, which I understand you're not going to, I mean you don't approve of in any shape or form, but we are really talking here about people who were kidnapped being released by their kidnappers.”
PLO Ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot: “
Well, Richard, you know, I have to challenge you here and say that while, good on you that you mention these hostages – and good that they are released, they should be released, I mean the Israeli hostages – but why didn't you ask me about the Palestinian hostages, the children that have been released today, that have been in Israeli prisons before the 7th of October (refers to Palestinian terrorist prisoners released in exchange deal during Israeli counter-terror operation against Hamas’ terror war on Israel -Ed.)
? You know, we have hundreds of Palestinian children being rounded [up] by Israel over years and years without charge, without trial, without access to lawyer or to their own families and parents (sic., aside from the terrorists held under administrative detention, many of the released terrorists had been tried and convicted)
. This is really unconscionable, it doesn't even belong to our today and our humanity, and therefore this is a time to really focus on the overall system of segregation, of oppression, and you know what? It's so telling that much of the international media is really focusing on the 50 Israeli-”
CNN interviewer: “Ambassador, just a minute. The reason why is simple. At first, while I was coming on to the Palestinians-”
Husam Zomlot: “Yeah, tell me the reason, Richard."
CNN interviewer: “Sure, because
when we look at the pictures of how those people were kidnapped, elderly women thrown over motorbikes screaming, taken over the border, shoved down tunnels, kept in dark – there is a quantitative and qualitative difference in the mode of detention between the two.”
Husam Zomlot: “I'll tell you what's the difference. I'll really tell you what's the difference.
The difference is the first is done by individuals (sic., by Hamas), but the second is done by a state, by a state that sponsored an army. The army invades innocent people's houses in the middle of the night, in the early hours of the morning, wakes up these children in the most terrifying… Let me finish my point, Richard. You asked me, I'll answer you. It is disgraceful to even draw any equity between a state that is a member of the UN, that is Israel and its responsibility under international law, and between individuals (sic., Hamas) , so in fact the lack of equity is to focus on 'responsible' - between parentheses – actors, that they should perform in full accordance of international law.”
CNN interviewer: “Alright, you've answered.”
[CNN Arabic, X (Twitter) account, Nov. 25, 2023]
Posted text: “[PA President Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud] Al-Habbash to [Egyptian] TeN TV:
We didn’t want this war, we did not strive for it, and defending our people is the most important priority for us.”
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash: “It is the right of these brothers, sisters, and sons to breathe free air (refers to terrorist prisoners released in an Israeli-Hamas ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal, during Israeli counter-terror operation against Hamas’ terror war on Israel; see note below -Ed.).
We think that it is the right of every Palestinian to achieve his freedom and leave the Israeli prisons, because they are hostages in the hands of the occupation state (i.e., Israel), and without a doubt it is their right to be released and their families’ right to rejoice…
We did not want this [Israeli] barbaric aggression, we did not wish for it, we did not strive for it, and we had no need for it. We did not want this war, we did not strive for it, we did not seek it, and we still refuse to enter this cycle [of violence].”
[PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Facebook page, Nov. 24, 2023]
