Israel is seeking to return to prison 54 Palestinian Authority Arab terrorists released as a result of the prisoner exchange deal that freed former IDF soldier Gilad Shalit two and a half years ago, The Jerusalem Post reports.
The High Court of Justice on Wednesday rejected the emergency petitons of six Hamas terrorists arrested during searches carried out as part of Operation Brother’s Keeper in the past two weeks. The fugitives were hoping to cancel their remand until evidence was brought to justify the arrests.
The court decided, however, that the six will remain in prison pending a final determination of their status and whether they violated a pledge they signed at their early release.
Shalit was kidnapped in a cross-border raid by Hamas and allied terrorists near the Kerem Shalom crossing with Gaza in 2006, and held captive for more than five years.
He was freed only after Israel agreed to free more than 1,000 terrorists from its prisons, including several hundred murderers with Jewish blood on their hands.
The freed terrorists were required to sign documents listing conditions they agreed to live by in exchange for their early release. Violation of those agreements was to result in a return to jail to serve the remainder of their sentences.
At Wednesday’s hearing, Justice Neal Hendel wrote the decision on behalf of the three-judge panel that included Supreme Court President and Judge Asher D. Grunis, and Judge Noam Sohlberg. The attorney for the defense was the Hon. Avigdor Feldman.