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A key point in the negotiations was a list of Palestinian prisoners submitted by Hamas, whom it wants released from Israeli jails in the first phase of the truce.
According to the Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post, the list includes prominent figures serving multiple life sentences, including Marwan Barghouti, Ahmad Saadat, Hassan Salameh, and Abbas al-Sayyid.
Marwan Barghouti, a senior Fatah leader and former head of the “Tanzim” faction in the West Bank, tops the list.
Two other names on the list are Hamas leaders Abdullah Barghouti and Hassan Salameh, according to the BBC. Hamas had been demanding the release of 280 prisoners serving long sentences, but under the Trump plan, only 250 would be freed.
On Thursday, Israel and Hamas agreed on a ceasefire deal to release the living hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Negotiations in Egypt’s resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh are taking place under strict security in a conference center.
High-profile inmate Marwan Barghouti—from Hamas' rival, the Fatah movement—is among those the group wanted to see released, according to Egyptian state-linked media, AFP reported.
Barghouti was sentenced to life in 2004 on murder charges and is considered a terrorist by Israel. He is sometimes described by his supporters as the "Palestinian Mandela".
He was one of the key leaders of the Second Intifada and was arrested by Israeli forces in Ramallah during Operation “Defensive Shield” in April 2002.
He was later convicted by an Israeli civil court of five counts of murder and other charges and sentenced to five life terms plus additional years in prison.
Although he remains imprisoned by Israel, Liran Aharoni, the newspaper’s Arab affairs analyst, acknowledged that Barghouti continues to enjoy significant popularity according to opinion polls.
He is viewed as one of the leading contenders to head the Palestinian Authority in the future.
Fadwa Barghouti, wife of senior Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti, arrived in Cairo on Wednesday from Ramallah.
Her unexpected arrival coincided with sensitive prisoner exchange and ceasefire talks in Sharm el-Sheikh. It follows undisclosed developments in the prisoner file, including possible arrangements involving Barghouti.
The current phase involves intensive discussions between Cairo, Washington, and Palestinian factions regarding the release of prominent leaders.
The second figure on the list is Ahmad Sa’adat, secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), whom Israel accuses of plotting the assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze’evi in 2001.
Sa’adat was arrested in 2006 and is currently serving a 30-year prison sentence. Before his ongoing detention, he had been arrested at least seven times. During his years in prison, Sa’adat endured years without family visits and periods of solitary confinement.
After his experience in isolation, he authored a book titled "Echo of the Shackles," which discusses the policy of solitary confinement in Israeli prisons, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Club.
Sa’adat, born in 1953 in Al-Bireh, Ramallah Governorate, has four children and four grandchildren. He was arrested six times by Israel between 1976 and 1993.
He served as the military leader of the PFLP until the death of the organization’s Secretary-General Abu Ali Mustafa on Aug. 27, 2001, after which he assumed the position of secretary-general. Israel accuses him of carrying out several operations that resulted in Israeli casualties.
At the time of his arrest, Sa’adat was held in Jericho prison under the Palestinian Authority alongside several colleagues. The Palestinian Prisoners Club described the incident as a “kidnapping,” saying Israeli forces stormed the facility in a military raid.
Ibrahim Hamed is considered the “most dangerous prisoner” currently held by Israel. According to The Times of Israel, he faces the second-longest sentence in Israeli prisons after Barghouti.
Hamed, the former commander of Hamas’ military wing in the occupied West Bank, is accused of orchestrating multiple attacks. He was convicted of killing 46 Israelis and sentenced to 54 life terms.
Born in 1965 in the town of Silwad, east of Ramallah, Hamed completed his primary, preparatory, and secondary education locally. He became involved in resistance against Israel at an early age and was arrested multiple times before his final detention in 2006.
After completing high school, he attended Birzeit University, earning a bachelor’s degree in political science and later pursuing a master’s in international relations. He worked at research centers and published several studies on the history of the Palestinian cause.
The Palestinian Prisoners Club noted that Hamed was “pursued for eight years, during which his family faced all forms of harassment and threats, and all members of his family, including his wife and two children, were arrested.”
Hamed also endured solitary confinement for about eight years, seven of them consecutively, according to the club.
Abbas al-Sayyed is a senior figure in Hamas’ military wing in Tulkarm, in the occupied West Bank. He is accused of planning a bombing at the Park Hotel in Netanya on the eve of the Jewish Passover in 2002, which killed 30 people and injured 140 others.
Israeli media described it as “the largest Palestinian attack during the Second Intifada.”
The Palestinian Prisoners Club reported that following his arrest, Sayyed endured harsh interrogations for five consecutive months and was pursued for several months. He was later sentenced to 35 consecutive life terms in prison, in addition to 150 years.
The club noted that Sayyed spent years in solitary confinement and was denied family visits, with his wife seeing him for the first time seven years after his arrest.
Sayyed is considered an active prisoner in Israeli jails. He holds a degree in mechanical engineering and had later specialized in the engineering of ventilator devices before his arrest.
Notably, Israel did not reveal the names of the prisoners set for release.
Israel's Cabinet will meet on Thursday at 3 p.m. GMT to discuss a plan to secure the release of all hostages held in Gaza, a government statement said. Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says he will not vote in favor.
A Hamas official said negotiations for the second phase of the ceasefire would begin "immediately".
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