Who is Zakaria Zubeidi, the Fatah terrorist to be released in the ceasefire deal?

Zubeidi was born in 1976 to a family of nine in Jenin, a Palestinian city in the West Bank.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF JANUARY 18, 2025 14:21 Updated: JANUARY 18, 2025 14:31

Zakaria Zubeidi. Jenin, December 30, 2004. (photo credit: REUTERS/AMMAR AWAD)

One of those set to be released in the hostage and ceasefire deal set to begin Sunday morning is arch-terrorist Zakaria Zubeidi, a former commander of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in Jenin, a Fatah-aligned armed group.

Zubeidi was born in 1976 to a family of nine in Jenin, a Palestinian city in the West Bank. When he was young, he was shot by Israeli forces after throwing stones at a civilian vehicle. He has claimed the wound has caused him to have a lasting limp.

Terror from a young age

Additionally, at age 14, he was arrested and imprisoned for half a year for throwing a Molotov cocktail. He was subsequently sentenced to four and a half years.

During his first sentence, Zubeidi joined Fatah.

After he was released, he joined the Palestinian police, worked at a builder in Tel Aviv, and a truck driver in Jenin.

Fatah's ZAKARIA ZUBEIDI 370 (credit: Reuters)

Later, during an IDF raid in Jenin, his mother was shot and killed by an Israeli sniper. His brother was later killed duing Operation Defensive Shield, which was triggered by a slew of Palestinian terror attacks in March 2002.

Zubeidi later joined the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades where he organized a number of terror attacks, including a suicide bombing at a Likud branch in Beit She’an where six people were killed.

In 2021, Zubeidi was one of the terrorists who escaped Gilboa Prison for a period of time before being caught in a massive manhunt.

He is currently serving time in prison for a slew of offenses including murder, attempted murder, planting of an explosive device, membership in a terror organization, discharging a firearm at people, contact with a hostile organization, offenses against (or failure to comply with) current sentencing, weapons offenses, conspiracy to commit a crime, conspiracy to murder, service to an illegal organization, and failure to pay fines.

Zubeidi's son, Mohammad, was killed in September during targeted Israeli air force strikes in the Jenin area.

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On Saturday, the Justice Ministry released a list of 735 terrorists to be released as part of the hostage deal. 

Other names include Ahmed Barghouti, a close aide to Marwan Barghouti, who is serving 13 life sentences. Arrested alongside Marwan Barghouti in Ramallah in 2002, Ahmed was responsible for supplying weapons to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, the military wing of Fatah, where he served as their operational commander.

Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report