PA celebrates the release of 4,700 Palestinian terrorist prisoners, calling them “leaders of the national movement”, and “heroes”
Headline: “37 years since the largest prisoner exchange deal in the history of the [Palestinian] revolution”
“Thirty-seven years have passed since the largest prisoner exchange deal in the history of the Palestinian revolution, which was led by the Fatah Movement, and which brought about the release of 4,700 prisoners (see note below –Ed.)…
After more than a year of negotiations – in which international bodies including the Red Cross; the leader of the revolution [former PLO Chairman and PA President] Yasser Arafat; deputy general commander of the revolution Khalil Al-Wazir [‘Abu Jihad’] (i.e. terrorist, responsible for the murder of 125); and [PA Deputy Prime Minister] Nabil Abu Rudeina participated – Israel submitted to the Palestinian revolution’s demands: releasing the prisoners held in the detention camps Ansar, Nabatieh, Sidon, and Tyre, in addition to 100 (sic. 65) prisoners from the prisons in the occupied Interior (i.e., Palestinian term for Israel)…
[PA-funded] Prisoners’ Club Chairman Qadura Fares said that the Fatah leadership had planned to release more than 4,700 Palestinian and Arab prisoners from the occupation’s (i.e., Israel’s) prison, but was forced to agree to this number due to the political situation at the time
He added: ‘This was the largest [prisoner] exchange deal, and included in it were… leaders of the national movement, including… hero of the Savoy operation (i.e., Savoy terror attack, 11 people murdered) Musa Al-Tallka, and also Hussein Fayyad and Khaled Abu Asba (i.e., terrorists, involved in the murder of 37, 12 of whom were children) from the squad of Martyr Dalal Mughrabi (i.e., terrorist who led the murder of 37, 12 of whom were children).’”
Nabil Abu Rudeina also serves as PA Minister of Information, Fatah Commissioner of Information, Culture, and Ideology, and Fatah Central Committee member.
The capture of 8 Israeli soldiers in Lebanon – Eight Israeli soldiers were captured by Fatah terrorists in Bhamadoun, Lebanon on Sept. 4, 1982. Two of them were handed to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and 6 were held by Fatah. Fatah released the 6 soldiers on Nov. 23, 1983 as part of an exchange deal in which Israel released 4,700 terrorists that were held in Lebanon and 65 terrorists held in Israel. The two handed over to the PFLP were released on May 21, 1985, as part of an exchange deal in which Israel released 1,150 terrorist prisoners.
Yasser Arafat – Founder of Fatah and former chairman of the PLO and PA. During the 1960s, 70s and 80s Arafat was behind numerous terror attacks against Israelis. Although he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 together with then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and then Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Shimon Peres “for their efforts to create peace in the Middle East" after signing the Oslo Accords peace agreement, Arafat launched a 5-year terror campaign - the second Intifada (2000-2005) – in which more than 1,000 Israelis were murdered. Arafat died of an illness in 2004.
Abu Jihad (Khalil Al-Wazir) - was a founder of Fatah and deputy to Yasser Arafat. He headed the PLO terror organization's military wing and also planned many deadly Fatah terror attacks in the 1960’s - 1980’s. These attacks, in which a total of 125 Israelis were murdered, included the Coastal Road attack that (until Oct. 7, 2023) was the most lethal in Israeli history - the hijacking of a bus and murder of 37 civilians, 12 of them children.
Savoy terror attack: In March 1975, eight terrorists traveled by boat from Lebanon to a Tel Aviv beach. They took over the Savoy Hotel and took guests as hostages. The next morning, Israeli forces attacked and killed seven of the terrorists. Eight hostages and three soldiers were killed by the terrorists during the attack.
Hussein Fayyad – terrorist who participated in the most lethal attack in Israel’s history, the hijacking of a bus led by Dalal Mughrabi in 1978 in which 37 civilians were murdered, 12 of them children. Hussein Fayyad was sentenced to life in prison but was later released in the Jibril Exchange in May 1985, when Israel agreed to release 1,150 Palestinian prisoners, including terrorist murderers, in exchange for three Israeli soldiers who had been taken hostage by the terror organization the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command (PFLP - GC).
Khaled Abu Asba -Palestinian terrorist who, at the age of 18, was one of the perpetrators of the most lethal terror attack in Israel’s history, the hijacking of a bus led by Dalal Mughrabi in 1978 in which 37 civilians were murdered, 12 of them children. He and Hussein Fayyad were the only terrorists who survived the attack and both were arrested by Israeli security forces. Abu Absa was sentenced to life in prison but was later released in the Jibril Agreement in May 1985, when Israel agreed to release 1,150 Palestinian prisoners, including terrorist murderers, in exchange for three Israeli soldiers who had been taken hostage by the terror organization the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Abu Absa lives in Jordan.
Dalal Mughrabi – female Palestinian terrorist who led the attack that (until Oct. 7, 2023) was the most lethal terror attack in Israel’s history, known as the Coastal Road massacre, in 1978, when she and other Fatah terrorists hijacked a bus on Israel's Coastal Highway, murdering 37 civilians, 12 of them children, and wounding over 70. In text note: (i.e., terrorist who led murder of 37, 12 of them children)