One central Hamas operative designated for release is Imad Qawasmeh (52), who has been serving 16 life sentences since 2004 for involvement in a suicide bombing that killed 16 Israelis. According to the Prisoners Organization Media Office, he is one of the "leaders" of the terrorists in prison.

The West Bank resident was involved in offenses including training terrorists, attempted murder, and conspiracy to cause death with intent. Qawasmeh is on the deportation list. During a 2004 operation, after the attack in which he was involved, he was captured by Israeli forces after his house was bombed and he escaped through a tunnel. He has a long history of attacks. He was first sentenced to five years in prison in 1994 when he assisted Hamas' "military wing" logistically. In 1999 he was released after completing his sentence, and eventually returned to terrorist activity in the Second Intifada.

Another Hamas operative designated for release is Qassem Aref Khalil al-Asafreh (36). In 2019 he was arrested after being involved in a stabbing attack in Gush Etzion, in which soldier Dvir Sorek was murdered.

Al-Asafreh was part of a terrorist cell with his cousin and another operative. The cell failed in two attempts before the attack. After the murder they planned another attack. Al-Asafreh is designated for deportation.

Muhammad Aref Samhan (55) is a terrorist who dispatched several suicide bombers, and is responsible for the attack on Bus Line 2, in which 23 people were murdered and 130 others were wounded. He is designated for deportation and belonged to the "Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades," from Fatah, during the Second Intifada.

Ibrahim Muhammad al-Raai (46) is a terrorist belonging to a Tanzim cell of Fatah. He is responsible for a bombing attack in the Casbah in Nablus, in which Osher Damari fell in 2006. Al-Raai was only arrested in 2022. He was recruited remotely by a terrorist from Gaza and worked to recruit additional terrorists. He was also involved in shooting attacks in the area of Joseph's Tomb. From the Shin Bet investigation it emerged that he participated in dozens of shooting attacks against Israeli forces and planting explosives.

One of those designated for release to the West Bank, who is not designated for deportation, is Rashid Mahmoud Omar (48). He was convicted of causing death with intent, membership in a Fatah terrorist cell, shooting at people, attempted murder, and involvement in hostile actions. He was arrested several months after the end of the Second Intifada (summer 2005) in the village of Faraoon in Samaria. He was convicted of the murder of a Palestinian whom he accused of "collaboration with Israel."

Another Fatah operative is Raad Abd al-Aziz (45), who was convicted of offenses including causing death with intent, possession of firearms, attempted murder, and conspiracy to cause death with intent. He is a resident of the Ramallah area who has been in prison for approximately 20 years for terrorist activity in the Second Intifada. Al-Aziz is designated for deportation abroad.

From PIJ, Omar Mahmoud Bassis (60) is designated for release. He is a terrorist convicted of planting explosives, membership in a terrorist organization, shooting at people, and attempted murder. He was also captured during the Second Intifada, in 2004. Also from PIJ, Arafat Hamid Zir (43) is expected to be released to the West Bank area. He was convicted of membership in a terrorist organization, aiding murder, and incitement to murder, and entered prison in 2003.

Faisal Mahmoud Abdullah Khalifa (43) is also set to be released to the Samaria area and not be deported. He is a Hamas operative who has been in security detention since December 2024. He is accused of offenses including membership in a terrorist organization, providing shelter to wanted persons, storing weapons, and conspiracy to cause death with intent.

On the deportation list is Firas Sadiq Muhammad Ghanem (51). He is a security detainee from Jerusalem, who was captured during the Second Intifada. He is accused of offenses including state security, causing death with intent, possession of firearms, attempted murder, conspiracy to cause death with intent, and more. According to the Prisoners Organization, he is accused of participating in attacks when he belonged to the "Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades," the Fatah branch in those years. It was also noted that these attacks led to nine murdered Israelis.

Another person designated for release in the deal is Ibrahim al-Hani (54), a Popular Front operative sentenced to multiple life sentences for involvement in attacks in the Second Intifada. He has been in prison since 2006 and survived an assassination attempt in the past.

Another Popular Front operative is Ibrahim al-Qam (53), who is supposed to be released. He is serving two life sentences for involvement in terrorist activity. He is one of those designated for deportation.

Another Fatah operative designated for deportation is Atiyah Abu Samhadana (56), from the Gaza Strip. He was captured in 1996 for offenses including murder and use of dangerous drugs. He is one of the veteran prisoners, a Rafah resident arrested for terrorist operations. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison, which is supposed to end this month.

From PIJ, Iyad Muhammad Abu al-Rub (51) is designated for release, a senior figure in the organization and "head of the military wing" in Jenin. He is responsible for planning a series of suicide bombings. He was involved in attacks at a club in Tel Aviv and a mall in Netanya. He is designated for deportation.

From Hamas, Alaa al-Din al-Karki (52) is designated for deportation. He is accused of causing death with intent, possession of weapons, throwing Molotov cocktails, attempted murder, and more. Al-Karki has been in prison since 1993.

Ghufran al-Zamel, fiancée of senior Hamas figure in prison Hassan Salameh, whom Israel refuses to release, appealed to Hamas leaders Khalil al-Hayya, Zaher Jabarin, Khaled Mashal, and Muhammad Darwish. "We, the families of veteran prisoners and those sentenced to life imprisonment, demand that you not give up on them. Abandoning them would be breaking a covenant that has lasted more than three decades. Do not abandon Sinwar's will and Muhammad Deif's commitment," she declared.

In the message she also mentioned the names of arch-terrorists Abdullah Barghouti, Ibrahim Hamed, and Abbas al-Sayed, whom she calls to release along with Salameh.

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A military court on Thursday handed life sentences to two Palestinian terrorists who killed 19-year-old Israeli yeshiva student and Israel Defense Forces soldier Dvir Sorek in Samaria in 2019.

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Qassem Asafra was sentenced to an additional 40 years behind bars, and his cousin, Nasir Asafra, to another 20.

Each of the perpetrators was also ordered to pay the Sorek family 1.5 million shekels ($476,000) in compensation. In addition, Qassem Asafra, who attacked two Israelis in Beersheba in 2011, but was not caught, was ordered to pay the victims another NIS 60,000 ($19,000) in compensation.

Sorek was found stabbed to death near his hometown of Migdal Oz in Samaria. He was a yeshiva student enrolled in a program that combines Torah study and military service. At the time of the killing, he was off-duty.

Sorek had gone to Jerusalem to buy books for his teacher as an end-of-year present and was returning home when he was targeted by the terrorists.

His body was found by the side of the road, still clutching the books he had purchased, by popular Israeli novelist and outspoken left-wing activist David Grossman.

According to the IDF, Nasir Asafra was a member of Hamas. He attacked Sorek after he got off the bus, subduing him with a stun gun and then repeatedly stabbing him in the chest.

The attackers originally fled the scene but were apprehended following a manhunt. The homes of the perpetrators were demolished in 2019.

Sorek's grandfather, Rabbi Benjamin Harling, was killed in 2000 by terrorists who shot a group of tourists near Mount Ebal.

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Eighteen-year-old Dvir Sorek was found stabbed to death near his hometown of Migdal Oz in Samaria. Sorek had gone to Jerusalem to buy books for his teacher as an end-of-year present and was returning home when he was targeted by Palestinian terrorists. His body was found by the side of the road, still clutching the books he had purchased, by popular Israel novelist and outspoken left-wing activist David Grossman.

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Cousins Nasir Asafra, 24, and Qassem Asafra, 30, were arrested shortly after the attack and charged with Sorek's murder. Three others were also indicted on terror charges in connection with the attack.

The military said local residents clashed with the troops at the scene.

Israel maintains that the practice of razing terrorists' homes is an effective means of discouraging future attacks, though it has been criticized by human rights groups as a form of collective punishment and by some analysts as an ineffective deterrent measure.

Defense Minister Naftali Bennett said in a statement that those who carry out terror attacks will be punished.

"Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that there will be no more terror, but we must exact a heavy price from anyone who raises a hand against an Israeli citizen," he said.

Speaking to Channel 13 News, Sorek's father, Yoav, criticized the fact that the homes were not razed sooner.

"When it could have strengthened deterrence and maybe stopped the next attack. The inflated caution and rights to delay via the courts ignore the fact that homes are not lives, you can rebuild them," he said.

Fatah responded by announcing a general strike, including educational institutions, in Beit Kahil, "In solidarity with the fighters whose homes were destroyed by the occupation," Walla News reported.

A Hamas spokesperson said that the razing of the homes was part of "ongoing racist terrorist behavior and ongoing aggression against our people."

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Overnight between Sunday and Monday, IDF forces surveyed the suspects' houses in preparation for their demolition.

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Netanyahu spoke at an awards ceremony for Shin Bet security agency personnel at the President's Residence in Jerusalem.

"I thank you for your contribution to the arrests of the killers of Dvir Sorek," Netanyahu said. "Immediately as details of the incident came in, I said with great confidence that it wouldn't take long for us to get our hands on the murderer."

Netanyahu went on to say, "That's what you've done in recent years – all the murderers have been caught, with no exceptions. In every incident in which brutal terrorists have taken the lives of innocent Israelis, it didn't take long before we reached them."

"You arrested Dvir's murderer within 48 hours," he said, adding "We've mapped the houses of the terrorists and will soon demolish them."

Netanyahu also addressed the large number of terrorist plots which were thwarted by the Shin Bet during this past year alone.

"You operate day and night for the safety of our citizens. Last year, you foiled more than 600 terror attacks. The prevention of terrorism is done on a massive scale. We're doing everything possible to cut off terrorism at its very conception," the prime minister said.

This article was originally published by i24NEWS.

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the killing as a terror attack and vowed the killers would be brought to justice. Israeli troops raided a nearby Palestinian village and the military said it was sending reinforcements to the area.

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The killing threatened to inflame tensions between Israelis and Palestinians just over a month before Israel's general election. In response to the incident, Netanyahu's political allies called to increase settlement construction and enact a heavy-handed response.

Sorek, from the community of Ofra, north of Jerusalem, was a student at a pre-military yeshiva in the Gush Etzion bloc, south of Jerusalem. His body was found on the side of a road near the yeshiva with stab wounds.

IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said Sorek was neither armed nor in uniform when his body was found. He said that the army was investigating the circumstances of his death and searching for suspects.

As part of the searches, a column of Israeli jeeps entered the nearby Palestinian village of Beit Fajar, a mile south of where the body was found. Soldiers blocked the road and searched homes.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the Islamic terrorist organization Hamas issued a statement praising Sorek's murder.

"We salute the hero fighters, sons of our people, who carried out the heroic operation which killed a soldier of the occupation army," Hamas said in a statement. The Palestinian terrorist group Islamic Jihad also hailed the killing as "heroic and bold."

US President Donald Trump's Mideast negotiator, Jason Greenblatt, attacked Hamas' statements, writing on his Twitter account that the terrorist group "chooses death & destruction over taking care of people they claim to lead."

Rabbi Shlomo Wilk, head of Sorek's yeshiva, told Israel Radio that Sorek had gone to Jerusalem to buy presents for the school's faculty. Wilk said Sorek had called a friend and said he would return on time.

"When he was late, we started to worry," Wilk said. "Fairly quickly we understood that something wasn't right and we got the police involved."

Sorek's father, Yoav, is the editor of a Hebrew language Jewish history magazine and the Shiloach Journal for Policy and Thought.

Dvir was the grandson of a prominent religious-nationalist rabbi, Benjamin Herling, one of the forerunners of the settlement movement, who was killed by a Palestinian terrorist near Nablus in 2000.

Netanyahu visited the scene of the attack on Thursday evening. Earlier, the prime minister said in a statement that security forces were "in pursuit now in order to capture the despicable terrorist and bring him to account."

Speaking at the inauguration of new homes in the community of Beit El, north of Jerusalem, Netanyahu said that Israel "will reach those who seek to harm us," and "strengthen our roots in our homeland."

President Reuven Rivlin offered his condolences and said that the security forces were "pursuing the murderers and will not rest until we find them."

"Our prayers this morning are with the family of the murdered soldier and our hearts grieve for the life cut short," Rivlin said. "We fight terrorism without compromise to ensure the security of our people."

Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein responded to the attack on Thursday, saying "we should move in the direction of exercising sovereignty over our settlements. To make it clear that terrorism will not drive us away," he said.

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In a letter addressed to Poland's UN Ambassador Joanna Wronecka, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council, Danon pushed the UN to condemn the stabbing to death of Dvir Sorek, 19, a yeshiva student and Israel Defense Forces' recruit, and stop the payment of salaries to Palestinian terrorists.

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"The attack and its glorification are the direct results of the Palestinian leadership's ongoing policy of educating and incentivizing its youth to kill Jews throughout Israel," Danon wrote in the letter. "I call upon the Security Council to condemn this sickening act of terror immediately, unequivocally and in the strongest terms possible. It is the duty of the Council to put an urgent stop to all Palestinian incitement efforts."

Meanwhile, American Jewish groups condemned the murder of Sorek and urged the international community to take action against the Palestinian Authority's "pay to slay" policy.

"We join the people of Israel in mourning the loss of 19-year-old student Dvir Sorek, from the community of Ofra, who was studying at Yeshivat Migdal Oz. This was a dastardly act of terror and cold-blooded murder of a student who was found still clutching the books he had just bought in Jerusalem. We extend our deepest condolences to Dvir's family, which has already suffered grievously from previous terror attacks," said Arthur Stark, chairman, and Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman and CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

"The international community must join in condemning this attack and those who incited, abetted and supported it," they continued, "especially the continuing 'pay to slay' grants of the Palestinian Authority."

Similarly, Mark Mellman, from the Democratic Majority for Israel, extended his deepest condolences to the Sorek family.

"At the same time, we are disgusted but not surprised that Hamas and the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad celebrated his murder, calling it 'heroic,'" he said. "These senseless terrorist attacks leave families grieving and make it even more difficult to find a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians."

Sorek was laid to rest on Thursday evening in Ofra.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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