15 Terrorists Released In Shalit Swap Rearrested On Terror Charges

Israel secured the release of Gilad Shalit in October of last year by handing over more than 1,000 Palestinians who it had detained, arrested, and or convicted of various crimes, including terrorism and murder charges.

Now, it turns out that Israel has rearrested at 15 of those released on terror-related charges.

Eight of the Palestinians were from the first batch of prisoners released, many of whom were serving life sentences for a variety of deadly terrorist attacks.

The remaining seven were from the second batch of prisoners who were serving lighter sentences. Three of the prisoners have been released since they were rearrested.

The first stage of the exchange took place in October, when 477 Palestinians were freed, and the second stage in December, when 550 were released.

A senior IDF officer from the Central Command said on Wednesday that it was still too early to measure the impact the released prisoners were having on the West Bank.

“People need to acclimate back to their homes and work to retrieve their former status in their respective organizations from the younger generation that took over while they were away,” the officer said.

One of those rearrested was Ayman Salama, 36, who had been serving a 38-year sentence for his involvement in a 2002 bomb attack in Beersheba that wounded 18 people, as well as for a series of shooting attacks during the second intifada. He was supposed to be released in 2040.

While some may argue that this amounts to less than 1% of those arrested, these terrorists are looking to carry out mass casualty attacks and to capture other Israelis to secure the release of still more Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

Israel's Shin Bet had been warning that those released in the Shalit deal were being reintegrated into terror operations by Fatah and Hamas, and it once again highlights all that could go wrong with any such swap.

The terrorists released are more than capable of rejoining their fellow terrorists and their plans to kill or capture as many Israelis as possible, all while Israel has conceded that it will release prisoners in exchange for Israelis captured by the terror groups.

So, while the Israeli government has reaffirmed its commitment to make sure that no Israeli would be left behind and that it would do what it takes to secure the release of Israelis captured by the terror groups, it also highlights the dangers of releasing terrorists with blood on their hands. These aren't rehabilitated individuals. They are unrepentant terrorists who are glorified by the terror groups and honored for their commitment to murder Israelis.

Israel gave up far more than Hamas or the PRCs ever did to secure the swap. Israel had to undermine its security situation by releasing terrorists. All Hamas and the PRCs had to do was release Shalit.

Israel may have shown that they value the life of one Israeli far more than the Palestinians value their fellow Palestinian lives, but that's cold comfort to those who may succumb to terror plots carried out by those Israel releases down the road.