Israeli authorities deported al-Tous to Egypt upon his release in the second round of the exchange, which saw 200 security prisoners traded for 4 female Israeli soldier hostages.
He was one of 121 prisoners serving life sentences freed that day. He was one of the few prisoners detained before the 1993 Oslo Accords not released as part of those agreements.
On Wednesday, al-Tous gave an interview to the Emirati al-Mashhad news outlet, in which he criticized Hamas leadership when asked about the October 7 attack that ultimately led to his release.
He said: 1. “If I had known the cost of my freedom, I would have stayed in prison… 2. A leader who is thinking of carrying out a large attack must be aware of the cost. 3. It is unacceptable that the cost of our release from prison is blood from Palestinian children,”
Originally Posted by Kangaroo Don
Then, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar must have known what would happen – that Israel would react with force and that many Gazan people would suffer as a result Then again, 1. “We make the headlines only with blood” 2. “No blood, no news” 3. willingness to sacrifice Palestinian civilian lives for their own advantage 4. calling their own people's deaths “necessary sacrifice”
In another Friday interview with The Independent, al-Tous spoke in favor of political negotiations toward a two-state solution in order to “prevent bloodshed on both sides.”
He urged, 1. unity within the Palestinian national movement, 2. calling on Hamas to reconcile with Fatah 3. and accept the leadership of Abbas, now 89 years old
