Who Are the High-Profile Palestinian Prisoners Freed in the Gaza Exchange Deal?

October 13, 2025 News
Ayham Kamamji and Mahmoud Arda are among the Palestinian prisoners released. (Photo: via social media)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

Hamas has handed over 20 living Israeli captives in exchange for 1,968 Palestinian detainees, including 250 sentenced to life imprisonment.

Several high-profile Palestinian detainees, as well as two who were part of the Gilboa Prison break a few years ago, were among the close to 2,000 detainees released on Monday in a prisoner exchange deal between Hamas and Israel under the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.

Hamas handed over 20 living Israeli captives in exchange for 1,968 Palestinian detainees, including 250 sentenced to life imprisonment. Among the detainees are 1,700 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

Included in the list of detainees to be released are two of the six Palestinians who managed to escape from the high-security Gilboa Prison in September 2021 via a tunnel that they had dug underneath the facility, according to the Quds News Network (QNN).

Mahmoud Arda and Ayham Kamamji

Mahmoud Arda and Ayham Kamamji, along with four inmates, Munadel Infeiat, Zakaria Zubaidi, Yaaqob Qadri and Mohammad Arda, managed to escape from the high-security Gilbou Prison on September 6, 2021, by digging a tunnel beneath it.

The six were, however, recaptured after a few days of large-scale sweep operations involving high-tech systems. They were then subjected to physical violence, while Israel issued an additional sentence of five years against Kamamji and Arda.

In January 2025, the Palestinian resistance secured the release of two of the detainees, Zubaidi and Mohammad Arda, as part of a prisoner exchange and ceasefire agreement.

Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, had announced that no future prisoner exchange deal will take place without the release of the six, QNN reported.

First in English, Palestine Chronicle Publishes Full List of Palestinian Prisoners to Be Released

Also released are several notable detainees with links to the Palestinian Resistance movements who have spent decades in Israeli incarceration; namely, Mahmoud Issa, Nasri Assi, Ayman Abdul-Majid Ashour Seder, and Baher Mohammad Badr, according to an Al Mayadeen report.

Mahmoud Issa

Mahmoud Issa, from Jerusalem, is a Palestinian Resistance leader and senior figure in Hamas’s military wing who has spent 28 consecutive years in Israeli prisons and has now entered his 29th year of detention, Al Mayadeen reported.

The 54-year-old is among the longest-serving Palestinian detainees, having been detained before the signing of the Oslo Accords. He was sentenced to three life terms plus 46 years.

Issa has endured one of the harshest isolation regimes in Israel’s prisons, spending 13 years in solitary confinement, 11 of them consecutively, the report stated. Additionally, his family was denied visitation during the majority of this period, until a mass hunger strike in 2012 led to an end to his isolation.

Born in Anata, northeast of Jerusalem, on May 21, 1968, Issa studied Islamic Law and Theology at Al-Quds University. He joined Hamas and later became a founding member of its military wing, establishing the first Hamas military cell in the Jerusalem area, known as Special Unit 101, which carried out operations including attempts to capture Israeli soldiers for prisoner exchanges.

Issa led the operation that captured Israeli Staff Sergeant Nissim Toledano on December 13, 1992, intending to exchange him for the release of Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, the report stated. When Israel rejected the demand, Toledano was killed. The operation was considered by Israel as one of the most significant in the history of Palestinian Resistance, prompting an emergency session of the Knesset, the report added.

While imprisoned, Issa authored several books, including Resistance: Theory and Practice, and Lessons for the Mindful: Tales from History, and also published works on the interpretation of the Holy Quran. Before his arrest, he worked as a journalist and served as director of the Sawt al-Hurriyah w-al-Haqq (Voice of Freedom and Truth) newspaper, which was active in the occupied territories.

Nasri Asri

Another key detainee expected to be freed is Nasri Assi, born on September 27, 1977, in Jerusalem. Raised in Beit Liqya near Ramallah, Assi was detained on July 17, 2005, just 45 days after his wedding.

Accused of affiliation with the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, and involvement in a resistance operation, Assi was illegally sentenced by Israel to 18 life sentences plus 70 years. He was held in Ramon Prison and completed his high school education behind bars.

Ayman Abdul-Majid Ashour Seder

Ayman Abdul-Majid Ashour Seder, 57, from the town of Abu Dis, east of Jerusalem, has spent nearly three decades in Israeli prisons, according to Al Mayadeen.

Detained on May 13, 1995, he was sentenced to life imprisonment plus an additional 25 years.

Seder was accused by Israel of being affiliated with the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, providing maps and intelligence for resistance operations, and facilitating access for fighters to their targets.

Buses Carry Released Palestinian Prisoners to Ramallah under Ceasefire Deal

He was detained at the Beit Hanoun checkpoint while returning from Gaza and subjected to over five months of intense interrogation at the al-Moskobiya (Moscovia) detention center, and was classified among the most dangerous detainees.

Following his detention, Israeli occupation forces sealed his home in Abu Dis with reinforced concrete.

Although he met the criteria, Seder was excluded from the 2011 “Wafa al-Ahrar” prisoner exchange deal.

Currently held in Ramon prison, Seder suffers from chronic kidney and joint problems, the report stated.

Within the prison, Seder is widely respected for his national commitment and his active role in the educational and organizational efforts of the detainee movement.

Baher Mohammad Badr

Born on April 16, 1978, Baher Mohammad Badr, also from Beit Liqya, was detained by the Israeli occupation forces on April 7, 2004, at the age of 26, and has now spent over 21 years in prison, Al Mayadeen reported. As a member of Hamas in his hometown, he was actively involved in the Resistance during the Al-Aqsa Intifada.

Israel accused him of participating in a series of operations, including the 2004 Tzrifin bombing, the Café Hillel bombing in Jerusalem, and the Tel Aviv Central Bus Station bombing. After a prolonged search, he was eventually detained and sentenced to 11 life sentences.

Badr is currently serving his sentence in an Israeli prison, where he is regarded as one of the most prominent high-sentence detainees and a leading figure within the Palestinian prisoner movement.

The Palestine Chronicle is the first to publish the full list, in English, of Palestinian prisoners set for release. Read the full list here.

(PC, QNN, Al Mayadeen)

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