Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened the Palestinian prisoner Libéré on Saturday and a former head of terrorism Zakaria Zubeidi, two days after the release of Zubeidi as part of the hostage fire agreement with Hamas.
“Zakaria Zubeidi, you have been released in an agreement to release Israeli hostages – an error and you will meet old friends. We will not accept the support of terrorism, “wrote Katz on X.
The position came while Israel published 183 other Palestinian security prisoners, 32 of whom were released in the West Bank, after Hamas published three Israeli hostages in the middle of the current ceasefire in the strip.
Zubeidi organized dozens of attacks during the second intifada while directing the brigades of the Martyrs of Al-Aqsa in the city of Jenin of the West Bank. In 2021, he and five other prisoners killed a maximum security prison in northern Israel, an escape which helped to solidify the image of Zubei among the Palestinians as a folk hero. All six were taken over a few days later.
Friday, following an Israeli warning, Palestinian officials canceled a major celebration scheduled for Ramallah for the return of Zubeidi.
Civil administration officers “have transmitted unequivocal messages who said that the FDI will show zero tolerance to the planned event and said that if there is a rally in honor of Zubeidi, it will be dispersed quickly and aggressively, “said Israeli defense sources.
When Jenin’s former terror chief was released on Thursday, he was welcomed in Ramallah by a jubilant crowd of hundreds of Palestinians, who hoisted him on their shoulders to celebrate.
A crowd welcomes terrorist Zakaria Zubeidi, former chief of the Al-Aqsa brigades, after his release as part of a hostage fire agreement between Israel and Hamas when he arrived in Ramallah, in the West Bank, January 30 2025 (Flash90)
Friday, in an interview with Sky News, the liberated prisoner said: “I believe in the resistance that will lead us to freedom.”
When asked if he would do something differently if he could relive his life, he said: “My life is worthless without freedom. The world which refused me my freedom, in particular Great Britain, France and the United States, must return what they took from me and my children. They are the ones who need to reconsider their mistakes, not me. They are the ones who hurt us. »»
On Saturday, Herzi Halevi, the chief of staff of the Israeli defense forces, said in a press release only with the versions of hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners, the army “maintains a high level of preparation for all fronts , by emphasizing Judea and Samaria ”, using a biblical term for the West Bank.
According to the Palestinians, 18 of prisoners and detainees released by Israel served perpetuity sentences on Saturday. More than 100 came from the Gaza Strip, arrested after October 7, 2023, and detained without trial.
Thirty-two prisoners were released in the West Bank and one was expelled to Egypt, while the other 150 were released in Gaza.
Israel released prisoners shortly after the Hamas terrorist group has given three Israeli civilians – Yarden Bibas, Ofer Calderon and Keith Siegel – removed on October 7, 2023, and held hostage for 484 days.
Palestinian prisoners are welcomed when they leave a bus from the Red Cross after being released from Israeli prison in the midst of a release of hostages and a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas, In the city of Ramallah in the West Bank, on February 1, 2025. (AP photo / Nasser Nasser)
The War of Israel-Hamas began on October 7, 2023, when thousands of terrorists led by Hamas invaded southern Israel from Gaza, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, in the midst of brutality and sexual assault.
Sixty-six of the 251 hostages removed by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 dead confirmed by the FDI.
Until now, 13 Israeli hostages have been released as part of the current agreement, which requires the release of 33 so-called “humanitarian hostages” during its first 42-day phase, with battles stopped in the band .
Five Thai hostages were also released outside the agreement.
The releases on Saturday took the number of Palestinian prisoners released under the agreement so far at 583.
