Mr. Zubeidi, who was also once a theater director, stunned Israelis and Palestinians alike when he and others broke out of jail in 2021.

Follow NBC News live updates for the latest coverage of the ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas.

Zakaria Zubeidi, A prominent leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah), and a former member of Fatah’s Revolutionary Council, was released Thursday as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

Zakaria Zubeidi, a former leader of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, was released as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. Zubeidi,

The Israeli leader pointed to the last-minute treatment of the seven hostages as ‘yet another proof of the unimaginable cruelty’ of Hamas.

Zakaria Zubeidi, a former Palestinian militant leader, was released as part of a ceasefire deal. Known for his role in the Second Intifada, his release underscores shifting Israeli military focus to the West Bank.

The truce is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and Hamas, whose Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel sparked the fighting.

Hamas is set to free three Israeli captives and five Thai captives on Thursday, and Israel will release another 110 Palestinian prisoners in the third such exchange since a ceasefire took hold earlier this January in the Gaza Strip.

Zakaria Zubeidi, a former Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades leader, is among the second group of Palestinian detainees to be freed on Saturday.

Israel released 110 Palestinian prisoners on Thursday after eight hostages in the Gaza Strip were freed by Hamas-led militants earlier in the day in a sometimes chaotic process that briefly called the exchange into question and underscored the fragility of a ceasefire that began this month.

Hamas-led militants freed eight hostages on Thursday in the latest release since a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip took hold earlier this month. Israel was expected to release another 110 Palestinian prisoners.

As part of the swap, Palestinian militants in Gaza freed five Thai and three Israeli hostages, handing them over to the Red Cross amid chaotic crowds.