Meet Ayman al-Sharawneh, released in the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal. And now...

...It is not the first time that a terrorist released from an Israeli jail has gone back to terrorism. According to the Israel Security Agency (ISA), released terrorists (including those released in the Gilad Shalit swap) are frequently involved in terrorist activity and recruitment of operatives for terrorist attacks.

Meir Amit ITIC..
11 June '13..

Overview

1. Ayman al-Sharawneh is a Hamas operative from the Hebron region who was sentenced to 38 years in Israeli prison for several terrorist attacks, such as an IED bombing in Beersheba which injured 19 people. He was released in the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal and redetained after having gone back to terrorist activity. He was on a hunger strike for 53 days, during which time there were demonstrations for his release in the West Bank as part of the “prisoners’ protest”. Eventually he was allowed to go to the Gaza Strip for ten years instead of coming back to jail and serving his sentence (March 2013). In a recent interview to a Lebanese TV channel, he said that he went back to military activity in the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military-terrorist wing.

2. Ayman al-Sharawneh’s return to terrorism reflects a broader trend of terrorists released in the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal going back to the circle of terrorism. This past year the Israeli security forces have exposed a number of networks in Judea and Samaria some of whose members are terrorists released in the Shalit deal, as well as networks handled by released terrorists from the Gaza Strip and from Arab countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Qatar. Many of those terrorists and their handlers belong to Hamas (see Appendix for details).

3. The released terrorists’ re-involvement in terrorism is a blatant violation of the Egyptian-brokered release agreement.

Al-Sharawneh’s return to military activity

4. Ahmed Shaldan, the Lebanese Al-Mayadeen TV’s reporter in Gaza City, has recently produced a story about the released terrorist Ayman al-Sharawneh going back to terrorist activity in the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing. The reporter interviewed Al-Sharawneh in his Gaza home and accompanied him on military activity in the east of the Gaza Strip, near the border with Israel. According to the reporter, every Thursday night Al-Sharawneh puts on his uniform, takes his weapon, and goes out on a night operational activity. The report went on to say that Al-Sharawneh was unaffected by the many years he had spent in Israeli jail, and that he still considered taking part in jihad a necessity. Al-Sharawneh said that the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades exist to protect their land and liberate the West Bank, Temple Mount, “all of Palestine from the river to the sea”, and the Palestinian prisoners detained in Israel (Lebanese Al-Mayadeen TV, May 27, 2013).

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