One of those set to be released in the hostage and ceasefire deal set to begin Sunday morning is arch-terrorist Zakaria Zubeidi, a former commander of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades in Jenin, a Fatah-aligned armed group.
Zubeidi was born in 1976 to a family of nine in Jenin, a Palestinian city in the West Bank. When he was young, he was shot by Israeli forces after throwing stones at a civilian vehicle. He has claimed the wound has caused him to have a lasting limp.
Terror from a young age
Additionally, at age 14, he was arrested and imprisoned for half a year for throwing a Molotov cocktail. He was subsequently sentenced to four and a half years.
During his first sentence, Zubeidi joined Fatah.
After he was released, he joined the Palestinian police, worked at a builder in Tel Aviv, and a truck driver in Jenin.
Later, during an IDF raid in Jenin, his mother was shot and killed by an Israeli sniper. His brother was later killed duing Operation Defensive Shield, which was triggered by a slew of Palestinian terror attacks in March 2002.
Zubeidi later joined the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades where he organized a number of terror attacks, including a suicide bombing at a Likud branch in Beit She’an where six people were killed.
In 2021, Zubeidi was one of the terrorists who escaped Gilboa Prison for a period of time before being caught in a massive manhunt.
He is currently serving time in prison for a slew of offenses including murder, attempted murder, planting of an explosive device, membership in a terror organization, discharging a firearm at people, contact with a hostile organization, offenses against (or failure to comply with) current sentencing, weapons offenses, conspiracy to commit a crime, conspiracy to murder, service to an illegal organization, and failure to pay fines.
Zubeidi’s son, Mohammad, was killed in September during targeted Israeli air force strikes in the Jenin area.
On Saturday, the Justice Ministry released a list of 735 terrorists to be released as part of the hostage deal.Â
Other names include Ahmed Barghouti, a close aide to Marwan Barghouti, who is serving 13 life sentences. Arrested alongside Marwan Barghouti in Ramallah in 2002, Ahmed was responsible for supplying weapons to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, the military wing of Fatah, where he served as their operational commander.
Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report
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