Tehran – The assassination of Palestinian prisoners after their release is more than just a sporadic act of violence. Rather, it is a carefully crafted strategy that reflects the occupying approach to dealing with Palestinian resistance.
This policy does not only exclude individuals who are considered security threats. This is a mechanism that strengthens permanent control, domination, and conquest. Such practices not only constitute a blatant violation of fundamental human rights, they also pose a direct challenge to international legal standards that Zionist entities continually ignore through systematic immunity.
When analyzing this policy, it is important to recognize that these assassinations are not acts of revenge or voluntary military operations. They are extensions of long-standing principles of preemptive elimination by Zionist organizations. Historically, Palestinians have been targeted even after being imprisoned, exchanged, or given temporary freedom. This practice is not only a violation of Palestinian rights, but also a challenge to the global legal order that has repeatedly failed to hold Zionist groups accountable for decades.
The recent assassination of four released prisoners, along with the environment of the other 33 during the Gaza ceasefire, serves as a clear reminder that targeted killing policies remain a positive and deliberate strategy. These events raise pressing questions. What does the release of Palestinian prisoners really mean today? What historical precedents underpinning this policy? And most importantly, why does the international community sustain such a terrible human rights violation?
Beyond the prison wall: the illusion of freedom for Palestinian prisoners
For most prisoners, liberation means freedom. But for Palestinian detainees announced by the existence of Zionists, it often marks the beginning of constant surveillance, the looming threat of re-registration, and, in many cases, even more dangerous beings, completely assassinated.
The Zionist organization’s policies against released prisoners operate on two basic principles.
Deterrence by Fear: Ensure that even those who provide text through negotiations or are released through negotiations are exposed to existential threats.
Permanent criminalization: depicting all released prisoners as potential threats that can be eliminated at any time.
The logic behind this strategy is clear. The release of prisoners is not an approval of their rights or rehabilitation efforts, but a step calculated within the broader doctrine of the security equipment of Zionist organizations. The exchange of prisoners, ceasefires, and negotiated releases do not change the entity’s central attitude that Palestinian resistance figures remain the primary target of assassination, regardless of legal status.
In 2012, Yoram Cohen, former director of the former Zionist Internal Security Bureau (Symbet), explicitly stated that the entity “will not refrain from assassinating released Palestinian prisoners.” This was not an off-hand statement, but a direct recognition of the established policy. His statement reflects the deeply rooted belief within Zionist security facilities that Palestinian prisoners remain legal targets of exclusion, even after so-called release.
The assassination of Hussein Muhammad Abayat, Abu Ali Mustafa, Ahmed Yasin, Abdel Aziz Al-Rantisi, and Samir Kuntar is no exception to targeting liberated individuals, indicating that it is a historically consistent and well-documented pattern.
The question is not whether the released prisoners are safe, but how and when the Zionist entities will assassinate them.
Historical roots of Zionist assassination policy: from the second Intifada to the Gaza ceasefire
To understand the importance of the current wave of assassination, we must examine the historical precedents that shaped this policy.
During the second Intifada (2000-2005), Zionist groups formalized the use of extrajudicial assassinations, targeting not only military leaders but political figures and activists. The assassination of Abu Alimstafa in 2001 and Ahmedyasin in 2004 was not a battlefield conflict, but rather a deliberate execution of individuals who were not actively engaged in combat at the time.
In particular, many of the assassinated people had previously been imprisoned. Their death reveals a deeper reality. For Palestinian prisoners, liberation is not equivalent to freedom. It illustrates the transition from one form of control (incarceration) to another form (permanent surveillance and target elimination).
The 2011 prisoner exchange agreement involving Girad Sharit, who saw the release of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, further illustrates this pattern. The deal was presented as a diplomatic breakthrough, but the Zionist entities revealed that the released prisoner never made its reach. Many were systematically rebooted the following year, especially during 2014’s “Operation Brother’s Keeper.” Some have been assassinated and proved that their release is always subject to an entity’s unilateral decision to revoke their supposed freedom.
Fast forward to the present and the same principle applies. Inmates released under the Gaza Cerez-Fire Agreement have been systematically re-registered or assassinated, just as they were released in previous exchanges. The recent four assassinations and the re-registration of 33 former detainees inform Palestinian prisoners and leaders that they can guarantee that there is no agreement.
This raises a very troublesome question. If the Zionist entities continue to eliminate Palestinian prisoners even after their formal release, what are the people released today doing?
Cerez-fire in Gaza and death trap for released Palestinian prisoners
While the current ceasefire in Gaza was to provide a temporary suspension in the war, the assassination of released prisoners proves that Zionist entities are actively involved in targeted killings. The message to the Palestinians is clear. Regardless of the terms of your release, you will never truly be free.
By systematically eliminating released prisoners, Zionist entities engage in psychological warfare. All Palestinians walk freely and do so under the shadow of an imminent Israeli strike. This manufactured instability is designed to prevent former detainees from reintegrating into society and keep them in a state of permanent fear and instability.
The recently released prisoner targeting during the ceasefire highlights the broader strategies of Zionist organizations. It does not respect the sanctity of international agreements or negotiated settlements. Instead, they continue their broader campaign of oppression and control, using moments of diplomatic engagement as temporary tactical drawers.
What we are witnessing today is not merely a violation of human rights, but a strategic weaponization of the ceasefire process itself. Zionist entities exploit the illusion of peace, selectively exclude individuals, ensuring that even the emergence of Palestinian autonomy remains impossible.
The role of the international community: silence as an accomplice
Repeated assassinations of released prisoners by Zionist groups should spark global rage, but the international community remains silent. This silence is not due to lack of consciousness, but is the result of intentional political inaction and normalization of Israeli violations.
International law is clear. The 4th Geneva Convention prohibits the killing of former combatants who are no longer actively engaged in combat. The International Criminal Court’s Roman law classifies extrajudicial enforcement as a war crime when implemented as part of a systematic policy. The universal declaration of human rights embarrasses the rights of life and legitimate processes that Palestinian prisoners are routinely denied.
Despite these legal frameworks, Zionist entities continue to act with immunity protected by the United States, European political allies, and global systems that have repeatedly failed to enforce accountability.
This silence is not merely negligence, it is not an accomplice. All assassinations of released Palestinian prisoners are indictments of the international order that allow Zionist groups to operate beyond the law. If the world remains indifferent, it sets a dangerous precedent and effectively grants Zionist organizations a license to run without consequences.
The need for resistance and accountability
Assassination of Palestinian prisoners after their release is not merely a violation of human rights, but is part of a broader policy of enduring conquest and political control of Zionist groups. It sends a clear message that imprisonment, negotiation, and liberation are all mechanisms under Israeli rule, and even when freedom is given, are illusions.
Recent assassinations during the ceasefire in Gaza confirm that this strategy remains in effect. Released Palestinian prisoners today face the same harsh fate as their predecessors: persecution, re-arrest, or execution.
The world cannot afford to stand vaguely while Zionist entities continue their policy of extrajudicial execution. Islamic and non-Islamic countries, human rights groups, and international courts must take concrete action beyond the condemnation statement.
* Israeli officials must pursue legal proceedings in the International Criminal Court to hold them accountable for war crimes.
* International sanctions must be imposed on Zionist organizations due to their systematic human rights violations.
*The Global Advocacy Campaign must work to amplify these cases and expose the extrajudicial killings of Zionist groups.
Without decisive international intervention, Zionist entities will continue to continue their assassination policies, and Palestinian prisoners will remain at risk of death, even after their release, even behind bars. The world works to reject the systemic policies of assassination pursued by Zionist groups and to prevent Palestinian life from being treated as a consumable item. Below that is endorsement of state-sponsored killings committed by such illicit beings as Israel.
Dr. Mohammad Alisenbari is the director of the New Vision Centre for Strategic Research