Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey, and Malaysia are being considered as potential destinations for the resettlement of Palestinian prisoners recently freed in a hostage swap between Israel and Hamas, according to reports. The 154 Palestinian ex-prisoners, released in exchange for Israeli hostages held in Gaza, were sent to Egypt instead of returning home. They are currently confined to a hotel under strict surveillance. All had been sentenced to life imprisonment by Israeli military courts on charges including murder, membership in Palestinian militant groups banned by Israel, and other acts of violence. Following a ceasefire in Gaza earlier this month, the prisoners were transported to Egypt, where they remain in a five-star hotel and are not permitted to leave without authorization. Murad Abu al-Rub, 45, who spent 20 years in prison, told AFP, “We were separated from our families for 20 years. Now, I still cannot see my mother or siblings.” He is living under tight surveillance, far from his hometown of Jenin. Since the US-brokered ceasefire on October 10, Hamas has released all 20 surviving Israeli hostages in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, most of whom returned to Gaza and the West Bank. During previous truces, thousands of Palestinian prisoners were released in similar exchanges, with those serving life sentences often exiled to Egypt, which has close ties with Israel and played a key mediating role. Human rights groups have long criticized Israel’s military courts for trying Palestinians accused of security offenses, arguing that these courts do not provide fair trial guarantees. Uncertainty In Egypt, the 154 men are not free to move, and they have no work permits and no idea what comes next. The government has not issued any formal statement about their status. “No Arab country wanted to take us in,” said Abu al-Rub, who was imprisoned for the killing of four Israeli soldiers in 2006 in an operation by the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, a movement linked to the Palestinian Authority. In the hotel corridors, the men spend hours on the phone, speaking to relatives. “When I was arrested, my little sister was 15,” Abu al-Rub said. “I didn’t recognise her when I saw her on a video call.” Over 19 years, he was shuffled through eight different Israeli prisons, never staying more than a few months in each. Conditions Kamil Abu Hanish, who spent 22 years in Israeli prisons, was jailed for murder and for belonging to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), according to Israel’s justice ministry records. He described the relief of being freed from jail. “It was like moving between two worlds… from a world of shackles and locked doors to a world of freedom and open space,” he said. But he also described his final hours in custody as some of the harshest. “Dozens of prisoners were tied together with ropes. They blindfolded us and forced us to kneel. Then they made us lie face down with our hands bound,” said Abu Hanish. Before Hamas’s October 7 attack, prisoners could study, play sports and attend daily discussion groups, he said, with inmates recounting a tradition of protest and rebellion in order to obtain these rights. “We played volleyball and table tennis and held three educational sessions a day,” Abu al-Rub said. “We had no rights left even the simplest,” he said, adding that pens, paper, films, TV and newspapers were banned after October 7. “Everything we had, including clothing and blankets, was confiscated. We were left sleeping on iron beds” during winter. Palestinian, Israeli and international rights groups have documented similar claims of mistreatment, but Israel denies any such violations and says its prison service operates in accordance with the law. According to the Palestinian Authority, nearly 11,000 Palestinians remain in Israeli custody, on charges related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Resettlement? Mahmoud al-Ardah, 50, also jailed on murder and other security charges, said the last two years were the worst. “Daily beatings and humiliation,” said the man, accused of belonging to the Islamic Jihad organisation. “In the last two years, I suffered more than in the previous 30.” In 2021, Ardah was one of six inmates who escaped Israel’s Gilboa prison by digging a tunnel with spoons and improvised tools. He was rearrested and put in solitary confinement. Egypt first received 150 exiled prisoners in January, and more than eight months later, most of them are still in the same hotel, their fate undecided. Hasan Abd Rabbo, of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, told AFP that the men remain in Egypt with accommodation costs covered by Qatar, while talks are underway over resettlement. He said possible destinations include Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan and Malaysia.
Pakistan could host Palestinian prisoners released by Israel in a hostage swap
