Jerusalem, MINA – After spending more than three decades in Israeli prisons, Palestinian brothers Mohammad and Abdel Jawad Shamasneh from the town of Qatna, northwest of occupied Jerusalem, have been released. Their release was part of a major prisoner exchange deal between the Palestinian resistance and Israel.
According to the Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS), the Shamasneh brothers were among 1,968 Palestinian detainees freed under the agreement. Both had been imprisoned since November 1993, making them among the longest-serving Palestinian prisoners, detained even before the signing of the Oslo Accords.
Mohammad Shamasneh had been sentenced to three life terms plus 20 years, with an additional 10 years later added to his sentence. Despite the harsh conditions of his imprisonment, Mohammad completed his high school education and earned a bachelor’s degree. He is married and has three daughters, the youngest of whom was just two months old at the time of his arrest.
Abdel Jawad Shamasneh was serving four life terms plus 20 years. He is also married and the father of seven children. His youngest son, Yousef, was born after his arrest, while his eldest child is his daughter Manal.
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Their release came during the first and second phases of a ceasefire agreement, following indirect negotiations in Sharm El-Sheikh. The prisoner exchange falls under the broader framework of U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war on Gaza.
Of the 1,968 prisoners released, 250 were serving life sentences, and many others faced long or anticipated life terms. Among the freed were 1,718 prisoners from Gaza, detained during what has been described as the genocide war. This deal marks the third prisoner exchange agreement since the beginning of the conflict.[]
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
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