Mr. Zubeidi, who was also once a theater director, stunned Israelis and Palestinians alike when he and others broke out of jail in 2021.

Zakaria Zubeidi, A prominent leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah), and a former member of Fatah’s Revolutionary Council, was released Thursday as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

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Zubeidi is a renowned terrorist responsible for the deaths of many Israelis and multiple terrorist attacks. He briefly escaped from Gilboa Prison in 2021 before authorities recove

The prisoners released were all men, ranging in age from 15 to 69, with nearly two dozen serving life sentences for more egregious crimes transferred to Egypt before further deportation.

Zakaria Zubeidi's last, fleeting, taste of freedom involved five days on the run after escaping from an Israeli maximum security prison in 2021, but on Thursday the Palestinian militant was released as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal.

Crowds of Palestinians — the relatives and friends of released prisoners but also scores of jubilant supporters — mobbed buses carrying the prisoners. As soon as they stepped off the buses, the crowd hoisted the prisoners in the air.

Zakaria Zubeidi, a former leader of a Palestinian militant group jailed for attacks that killed several Israelis, is to be released Thursday as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

Zakaria Zubeidi, a former leader of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, was released as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. Zubeidi,

As part of the ongoing prisoner exchange, Israel released 110 Palestinian detainees, including 32 serving life sentences and 30 children.

A list of more than 100 Palestinian prisoners that Israel is set to release on Thursday in exchange for three hostages includes Zakaria Zubeidi, a prominent former militant leader and theater director whose dramatic jailbreak in 2021

Israel released 110 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for three Israeli hostages and five Thai workers. The release marks the third round of exchanges.