This was one of several prisoner exchange agreements carried out between Israel and groups it classified as terrorist organizations around that time.
Another prisoner released was Ali Jiddah, who had served 17 years for planting of a bomb near a Jerusalem hospital in 1968 that wounded nine Israelis.
[2] Another prisoner released was Ziyad al-Nakhalah, who was serving a life sentence, and who has been the leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad since 28 September 2018.
The Israeli government faced harsh public criticism for agreeing to release the 1,150 security prisoners, among them those sentenced to life imprisonment and responsible for the killing of many Israeli citizens, particularly since the exchange did not include the three IDF soldiers who were declared missing in action after the Battle of Sultan Yacoub in 1982.
[4] On 30 June 1985, 39 foreigners seized on a TWA Flight 847 en route from Athens to Rome, hijacked to Beirut, were released.