Prisoner swap

Hamas terrorist freed in hostage deal hosted in Canada, US orgs' webinar

Hamas terrorist Othman (or Osman) Bilal, who was reportedly involved in the planning of bombings that killed 12 people, was featured in a webinar panel on the First Intifada.

|ByMICHAEL STARR
Freed Palestinian prisoners released by Israel as part of a hostages-prisoners swap and a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel, gesture, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, October 13, 2025.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy poses for a picture with service members while he visits a command position of the 128th Zakarpattia Separate Mountain Assault Brigade at a front line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine November 13, 2025.

Ukraine seeking exchange of 1,200 prisoners with Russia

Ukraine says it is pushing to restart prisoner exchanges with Russia, aiming to bring home 1,200 Ukrainians.

|ByREUTERS
A woman walks past posters with the portraits of Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, two French citizens held in Iran, on the day of support rallies to mark their three-year detention and to demand their release, in front of the National Assembly in Paris, France, May 7, 2025.

Iran releases two French nationals charged with espionage, Macron says

Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris were each sentenced to over 30 years in prison after being detained in 2022 on suspicion of espionage and collaboration with Israel.

|ByREUTERS
Freed Palestinian prisoners released by Israel as part of a hostages-prisoners swap and a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel, gesture, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, October 13, 2025.

Hamas terrorists transferred to new luxury lodgings after hotel eviction - report

The Hamas members were found at a Cairo hotel, have now been relocated to a more secure site with increased security.

|ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF

Has COVID created an opportunity to negotiate prisoner swaps with Hamas?

Palestinian officials reportedly told Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar that Israel has made an offer to Hamas via the Egyptian intelligence delegation that visited the Gaza Strip earlier this week.

DECEMBER 12, 2020ByTOBIAS SIEGAL
Palestinian health workers wearing protective masks walk in a quarantine zone installed by the ministry of health to test passengers returning from China for coronavirus, at Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip February 16, 2020.

Will a prisoner swap with Australia encourage more hostage-taking by Iran?

"If other people have been released in other places, they are the decisions of the sovereign governments. There are no people who have been held in Australia who have been released."

NOVEMBER 27, 2020ByREUTERS
Dr. Kylie Moore-Gilbert, the British-Australian academic who has been released from behind bars in Iran

Yemen's warring parties agree to largest prisoner swap

The Sweden deal contained a prisoner swap which aimed for the release of some 15,000 detainees split between both sides but has been slowly and only partially implemented.

SEPTEMBER 27, 2020ByREUTERS
Houthi troops ride on the back of a police patrol truck after participating in a Houthi gathering in Sanaa, Yemen February 19, 2020

Iran Foreign Minister says Tehran ready to exchange all prisoners with US

Relations between Tehran and Washington have deteriorated sharply since 2018 when U.S. President Donald Trump exited Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with major powers and re-imposed sanctions on Tehran.

SEPTEMBER 21, 2020ByREUTERS
IRANIAN PRESIDENT Hassan Rouhani (right) and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif. Who wanted to pay the price of moral action to truly stop Iran?

Egypt resumes effort to achieve prisoner exchange agreement

The delegation left the Gaza Strip on Friday after holding talks with several Hamas officials.

SEPTEMBER 12, 2020ByKHALED ABU TOAMEH
Palestinian Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza City February 28, 2019

Ex-US marine jailed by Russia on spying charges hopes for prisoner swap

Russia says Whelan, 50, was caught with a computer flash drive containing classified information.

JUNE 23, 2020ByREUTERS
Former US Marine Paul Whelan, who was detained and accused of espionage, is escorted inside a court building in Moscow

Iranian-American freed in prisoner swap with US arrives in Iran

An Iranian-American doctor has returned to Iran, Iranian state media reported on Monday.

JUNE 8, 2020ByREUTERS
AN IRANIAN FLAG flutters in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency headquarters in Vienna last year

US says door remains open for diplomacy with Iran

The US official reiterated an appeal for Iran to release American citizens Baquer Namazi, his son Siamak Namazi and conservationist Morad Tahbaz.

JUNE 5, 2020ByREUTERS
U.S. President Donald Trump holds up a proclamation declaring his intention to withdraw from the JCPOA Iran nuclear agreement after signing it in the Diplomatic Room at the White House in Washington

Iranian professor jailed in US returns home - report

Tehran and Washington have denied reports that his release was part of a prisoner swap.

JUNE 3, 2020ByREUTERS
A prison guard stands along a corridor in Tehran's Evin prison June 13, 2006.

Hamas demanding release of Barghouti and Sa’adat in prisoner swap

Maher Obeid, member of the Hamas 'political bureau,' said that any prisoner swap must include 'all the symbols, from Marwan Barghouti to Ahmad Sa’adat.'

MAY 7, 2020ByKHALED ABU TOAMEH, TOVAH LAZAROFF
Jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti would win elections for Palestinian president according to a poll held in early summer by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion.