JERUSALEM: The vast majority of Palestinians slated for release under a swap deal to secure the release of prisoners held in Gaza, are teenage boys, an official Israeli list shows.

Israel released the names on Wednesday of 300 Palestinian detainees who could be set free under the agreement.

An examination of the names found that 33 were women, 123 were boys under 18, and 144 were 18-year-old men.

The youngest was 14-year-old Adam Abuda Hassan Gheit from annexed east Jerusalem, who was arrested in May for “hostile sabotage activity, attacking a police officer and throwing stones”.

33 women, 123 teenage boys among those set to be freed

The oldest was a 59-year-old woman called Hanan Salah Abdallah Barghuti, who was arrested in September for “Hamas activity including money transfers”, it said.

It identified 49 as Hamas members, 60 as belonging to Fatah, the party which leads the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank, and 17 as being affiliated with the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The others had no affiliation specified.

Israeli and Palestinian families were torn between hope and fear on Wednesday. “Let’s hope this madness will end as soon as possible for everyone.” One Palestinian mother from Beit Safafa was also struggling to put her feelings into words after her daughter Malak’s name appeared on the list.

“I’m nervous and worried, I don’t know how to describe my feelings,” said Faatina Salman, whose daughter was 16 when she was arrested in Jerusalem. “I’m afraid that something will happen to the deal, and at the same time I can’t believe I’ll be able to hold hug her after eight years in prison,” she said of her daughter who is now 23.

“We don’t know who will get out because Hamas will release the names every evening of those who will get out the next day,” said Gilad Korngold, whose eight-year-old grandson Naveh and granddaughter Yahel, three, are among seven family members held in Gaza.

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2023