For anyone interested, Wikipedia has a page on the current hostage situation and some history.
According to Wikipedia, one of the "deals" Hamas has offered Israel was that Isreal release all Palestinian prisoners. That would be thousands of prisoners in exchange for hostages Hamas took on the 7th of October.
That's the Wikipedia bias. The vast majority of pages are written and maintained by a small number of people with a Western Centrist perspective, which tends to be more conservative. You start to notice it more once you see it for the first time.
Khalil al-Hayya, a member of the group’s political bureau, said that Hamas “is serious about releasing Israeli captives within the framework of an agreement” that also ensures the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
So to summarize:
The Palestinian prisoners are referred to as prisoners by Hamas. The non combatants taken hostage by Hamas are not referred to as prisoners by Hamas.
Whether you think the terrorist organisation Hamas are tainted by western bias or not is a different discussion that I'm not interested in taking part in.
Khalil al-Hayya, a member of the group’s political bureau, said that Hamas “is serious about releasing Israeli captives within the framework of an agreement” that also ensures the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
So to summarize:
The Palestinian prisoners are referred to as prisoners by Hamas. The non combatants taken hostage by Hamas are not referred to as prisoners by Hamas.
Whether you think the terrorist organisation Hamas are paid off by Isreal or not is a different discussion that I'm not interested in taking part in.
The difference is due to the military control Israel has over the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Palestinians are tried in a military court with no civil rights or representation, tortured into false confessions, and incarcerated with routine torture, sexual abuse, and denial of basic medical care. That includes hundreds if not thousands of children.