One of 26 prisoners released from Israeli prisons on Tuesday was convicted of murdering an American, according to the Daily Beast.
Al-Haaj Othman Amar Mustafa was sentenced to life in prison in 1991 after he and two assailants killed former U.S. Marine Frederick Steven Rosenfeld in 1989.
According to an Associated Press account of Mustafa’s trial before a military court, Mustafa and two others met Rosenfeld as he was hiking near the settlement where he lived in Ariel. At first, the three men befriended Rosenfeld and even posed for a photo. "Minutes after the picture was taken, the three stabbed Rosenfeld and left him for dead, according to their confession," the AP dispatch said.
Mustafa was released following Israel’s agreement to free 104 Palestinian prisoners "in exchange for Palestinian participation in a new peace process."
Secretary of State John Kerry has encouraged the negotiation with the Palestinian Authority as a new way to restart the peace process with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The agreement included Israel’s commitment to release 104 Palestinians detained for crimes committed before the Oslo peace process began in earnest in 1994.
Mustafa was one of those prisoners. Reuters reported on Wednesday that when he arrived back home to the West Bank, he was greeted as a hero. The story also said released prisoners would be receiving a stipend from the Palestinian Authority worth about $1,120 a month.