Brief by Shorts91 Newsdesk / 04:47pm on 27 Feb 2025,Thursday International
Nael Barghouti, the longest-serving Palestinian prisoner, was released after 45 years in Israeli jails under a hostage-prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas. Barghouti, 67, was initially jailed in 1978 for the murder of an Israeli officer and attacks on Israeli sites. Previously freed in 2011, he was re-arrested in 2014. Upon release, he was expelled to Egypt. The swap, part of a fragile Gaza truce, saw Israel release 643 Palestinian prisoners while Hamas returned the bodies of four Israeli hostages. The ceasefire has halted months of fighting that left Gaza devastated. Further negotiations remain uncertain.
