Jerusalem Post: These 4 are the most prominent prisoners that Hamas demands to be released.

With the start of negotiations between Israel and Hamas mediated by international parties in Egypt, four prominent Palestinian prisoners topped the list of names that the Islamic Resistance Movement is demanding be released in any upcoming exchange deal, due to their political and symbolic weight in the Palestinian arena.

According to a newspaper, Marwan Barghouti, a prominent leader in Fatah and the former head of the "Organization" in the West Bank, is at the top of the list. He was a key figure in the Second Intifada and was arrested by Israeli forces in Ramallah during Operation "Defensive Shield" in April 2002. An Israeli civilian court later convicted him of five counts of murder and other charges, sentencing him to five life terms plus additional years.

Despite being imprisoned by the occupation, Liran Aharoni, an analyst of Arab affairs at the newspaper, acknowledged that Barghouti still enjoys significant popularity according to opinion polls and is viewed as one of the most prominent candidates to lead the Palestinian Authority in the future.

The second figure mentioned in the list is the Secretary-General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Ahmad Sa'adat, who is accused by Israel of planning the assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi in 2001.

After years of being held by the Palestinian Authority, British and American observers overseeing Jericho prison withdrew, and the occupation forces stormed it in March 2006, arresting him and sentencing him to 30 years in prison.

Hamas is also demanding the release of Ibrahim Hamed, who served as the operations commander in the Al-Qassam Brigades in the West Bank during the Second Intifada. He was arrested in Ramallah in May 2006 and was convicted of orchestrating major bombings in Jerusalem and at the Hebrew University, receiving a sentence of 54 life terms.

Completing the list is a prominent Hamas leader from Tulkarem, convicted of planning a suicide attack at the Park Hotel in Netanya in March 2002, which resulted in the deaths of 30 people, and is serving a sentence of 35 life terms. He has been repeatedly excluded by Israel from previous prisoner exchange deals.