Why Israel is rejecting freeing popular Palestinian leader from prison in ceasefire deal

Teona Gherasim

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The most popular and potentially unifying Palestinian leader — Marwan Barghouti — is not among the prisoners Israel intends to free in exchange for hostages held by Hamas under the new Gaza ceasefire deal . Israel has also rejected freeing other high-profile prisoners whose release Hamas has long sought, though it was not immediately clear if a list of around 250 prisoners issued Friday on the Israeli government’s official website was final. Senior Hamas official Mousa Abu