Attila Somfalvi
Published: 10.12.11, 08:13 / Israel News
A total of 1,027 Palestinian prisoners will be freed from Israeli prison as part of the historic deal for the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit. The identity of the prisoners about to be releases is unclear at the moment, but names mentioned during the emergency cabinet meeting held Tuesday night are likely to spark a significant controversy in Israel and cause a lot of pain for some families.
Latest stories on Shalit deal:
Ronsky: Shalit should have been declared dead
Cabinet approves Shalit deal
Hamas: Shalit deal a national Palestinian achievement
Gilad Shalit timeline: 1,934 days in Hamas captivity
The first stage of the deal will see 450 prisoners released, including 280 who were sentenced to one life sentence or more. The prisoners about to be freed in the first stage are responsible for the death of 599 Israelis
.The full list is expected to be published on Wednesday.
All 27 female Palestinian prisoners will be released, including Amana Muna, who lured 16-year-old Ophir Nahum via Internet chats to his murder and will be deported to Gaza or abroad.
Ophir's father, Shalom Nahum, was stunned to receive the news about the release of his son's killer. "I sat in front of the television and knew that they will soon announce the murderer's release. While listening I realized that it's final, that this time the deal has been signed and there is no way back."
Mabhouh accomplices to be released?
One of the names mentioned during the cabinet meeting was Mahmad Shartaha, one of the accomplices of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, who according to Hamas was assassinated by Israel in Dubai, in the abduction and murder of IDF soldiers Ilan Saadon and Ilan Sasportas in the late 1980s, during the first intifada.
Gilbert Saadon holding picture of her son Ilan, murdered in 1989 (Photo: Danny Solomon)
Sasportas, a paramedic in the Paratroopers Brigade, was kidnapped by two Hamas terrorists while hitchhiking on February 16, 1989. Thousands of police officers, soldiers and volunteers searched for him for 81 days. In May 1989, his body was found in an open field, not far from the place he was kidnapped.
Twenty-one years later, after learning of Mabhouh's assassination, the Sasportas family refused to comment on the issue but thanked the defense establishment.
"This time it's different. We support the security forces and the IDF and want all soldiers to take care of themselves and avoid getting hurt. We are also waiting for Gilad Shalit to come home."
Mabhouh after assassination (Photo: Reuters)
Three months after Sasportas' murder, in early May 1989, Corporal Ilan Saadon was kidnapped in the Kiryat Malachi area. His body was found only seven years later. His sister, Mazal Huta, even met with Hamas founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, and begged him to tell her where her brother's body is."
Only in 1997, the Palestinian Authority gave Israel a map marked with five possible locations of the body, which was eventually found under a road paved south of Rishon Lezion.
In late 2001, a Golani force arrested Abdel Rabbo Abu Husa, a senior Hamas member who was involved in the kidnapping of the two soldiers.
Gilbert Saadon, Ilan's mother, told Ynet after Mabhouh's assassination, that the new of his death made her very angry.
"All these years I have been told that everyone involved in this has been killed. I thought that was what happened and I was sure they were no longer alive. Suddenly, this morning, I received the report. It's a shame that they only did it now."
No comments:
Post a Comment