Israeli security forces have arrested a Palestinian terrorist from Bethlehem who had been released from prison only a few months ago as part of a hostage exchange deal with Hamas. According to a statement from the Israel Police Spokesperson’s Unit on Thursday, the man is suspected of once again manufacturing explosive devices.

During a nighttime operation, detectives from the Judea District Crime Unit together with officers from the National Counterterrorism Unit of the Shai District (Judea and Samaria) raided the suspect’s home in Bethlehem and detained him for questioning.

About a year ago, the man had already been arrested after being caught with 25 homemade explosive devices, which he had supplied to other terrorist cells. At the time, a comprehensive criminal investigation was launched against him.

Components for manufacturing bombs confiscated by Israeli police during a raid on the home of a Palestinian suspect in Bethlehem. The suspect had been released from prison as part of a hostage exchange on October 29, 2025. Photo: Israeli police.

As part of the agreement negotiated in October 2023 for the release of Israeli hostages from the Gaza Strip, Israel freed thousands of Palestinian security prisoners — including individuals convicted of deadly terrorist attacks.

According to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), 160 of the 250 Palestinian prisoners released under the U.S.-brokered ceasefire with Hamas became millionaires during their incarceration, thanks to the Palestinian Authority’s notorious “pay-for-slay” program. The total payments to this group amounted to at least 229.5 million shekels, not including additional family stipends.

As The Daily Mail reported, more than 150 Palestinian terrorists released under President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace initiative were recently evacuated from a luxury hotel in Cairo, after an investigative report revealed their presence there — alongside British airline crew and Western tourists.

Under the hostage deal, Jerusalem agreed to free a total of 1,950 Palestinian security prisoners, including 1,700 arrested after October 7, 2023. Among them were 250 serving life sentences for murder.

A spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, David Mencer, told The Daily Mail:
“These men are terrorists — convicted bus bombers, murderers of students, and kidnappers of teenagers. Israel did not free them to reward evil, but because we value human life above all.”

He added: “It is a bitter price, one our people have paid for generations to redeem relatives from the hands of Jew-haters.”