Israel Releases More Prisoners In Peace Deal

Israel has freed 26 Palestinian prisoners as part of a deal that helped launch the current US-brokered peace talks.

They are the second batch of 104 convicts who are set to be released – an element of the agreement that has angered many Israelis who view them as terrorists responsible for Israeli deaths.

In an apparent attempt to offset negative domestic reaction, Israeli army radio reported plans for an expansion of controversial settlements in east Jerusalem shortly after the releases took place.

A group of 21 prisoners from the West Bank left Ofer prison, near Jerusalem, shortly after 1am (11pm UK time) and the other five crossed moments later into the Gaza Strip.

The West Bank inmates left Ofer in two minibuses with blacked-out windows and drove the short distance to the Beitunia crossing, where they were greeted with cheers and fireworks.

They then drove to nearby Ramallah where they were welcomed at an official ceremony headed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who said talks would not bear fruit unless some 5,000 Palestinians held by Israel go free.

“There will be no agreement if so much as one Palestinian prisoner remains behind bars,” Mr Abbas told thousands of cheering Palestinians gathered outside his headquarters in the West Bank city.

Speaking before the army radio’s report, Mr Abbas reiterated the Palestinians’ denial that the prisoner release was part of an agreement to allow Israel more settlement building.

He said: “There are some living among us who say that we have a deal (to release prisoners) in exchange for settlement building, and I say to them ‘be silent’.”

The five freed Gazans were met by hundreds of relatives and wellwishers as they entered the Strip through the Erez crossing from Israel.

Last week, an Israeli official claimed an expansion of large settlements, including in east Jerusalem “in the coming months”, was part of “understandings” reached with both the Palestinians and Washington.

The latest army radio report said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Interior Minister Gideon Saar had agreed to build 1,500 new homes in the east Jerusalem settlement of Ramat Shlomo.

All 26 newly-released prisoners were convicted of killing Israelis, with most of the attacks occurring before the 1993 Oslo Accords, which granted the Palestinians limited self-rule, but failed to usher in an independent state.

Mr Netanyahu agreed to release 104 prisoners in stages as part of the resumption of talks after three years in late July. A first tranche of 26 was freed on August 13.

Israel announced plans for more than 2,000 new settler homes in tandem with the August prisoner release, enraging the Palestinians.

The talks are held under a US-imposed media blackout, but a senior Palestinian official said Israel had adopted a hardline stance and negotiations had so far produced “no tangible progress”.

“The current Israeli negotiating position is the worst in more than 20 years,” Yasser Abed Rabbo, a top official with the Palestine Liberation Organisation, said in a statement.

“They want security first, and that the borders of the state of Palestine should be set out according to Israeli security needs that never end, and that will undermine the possibility of establishing a sovereign Palestinian state.”

Although Israel is engaged in direct peace talks with the Palestinians the prisoners’ release has sparked tensions within Mr Netanyahu’s coalition.

“The decision to release the prisoners is one of the most difficult I’ve had to make,” he told his right-wing Likud party on Monday.

“It is unjust because these terrorists are being released before completing their sentence. My heart is with the families of the victims.”

Israel Releases More Prisoners In Peace Deal