Israel releases over 300 Palestinians

A Palestinian prisoner kisses a fellow prisoner goodbye as he is released from the Israeli Ktziot prison near the village of Nitsana close to the Israeli-Egyptian border yesterday. Israel began freeing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners yesterday in what it viewed as a goodwill gesture to bolster a peace plan, but Palestinians dismissed the move as a sham. PHOTO: REUTERS

Israel released more than 300 Palestinian prisoners yesterday in what it called a gesture to bolster a US-backed peace plan. Palestinian officials dismissed the move as a sham.

The first prisoner freed flashed a V-for-victory sign at cheering relatives waiting at a checkpoint outside the West Bank town of Betunia and smiled broadly as he stepped off a bus that brought him from an Israeli jail.

Others kissed the ground, watched closely by armed Israeli soldiers, before boarding Palestinian vans for the trip home.

A Jewish settler broke through a security cordon and ran at the buses carrying the Palestinian prisoners but was wrestled to the ground by troops and taken away.

Right-wing Israelis and relatives of victims of Palestinian suicide bombings and shootings oppose the government's decision to begin freeing the Palestinians though none of those released were directly involved in attacks.

Palestinians, who regard the prisoners as heroes of their nationalist cause, said the release did not go far enough and demanded amnesty for all 6,000 detainees in Israeli jails.

Human rights groups have condemned Israel for holding many Palestinians without trial since the start of a 34-month-old uprising for independence.

The prisoner release was intended as a means of boosting confidence in a fragile US-backed peace plan, but instead it has fueled distrust between the two sides.

The dispute led Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas to pull out of talks set for yesterday with his Israeli counterpart, Ariel Sharon, on a "road map" aimed at ending three years of violence and creating a Palestinian state by 2005.

Before their release, prisoners were required to sign a document pledging that they would "refrain from hostile activity" against Israel.

But Hamad al-Smairi, a member of Islamic Jihad and one of several dozen militants freed yesterday, said he would feel no compulsion to abide by that promise.

"I am a soldier of the Islamic Jihad and I will do whatever and be whatever the Islamic Jihad wishes," he said after he was freed at the Erez border crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip.

Islamic Jihad, one of the main groups behind a wave of suicide bombings against Israelis, joined other militant factions in declaring a three-month truce that began on June 29.

Israel, saying Palestinians involved in attacks would remain behind bars, originally announced on Tuesday it would free 339 prisoners, including about 30 who were anyway due to complete their sentences this month.

But Israeli officials decided at the last minute to remove two men from the list to consider new charges against them.

Many of the inmates scheduled for release were arrested in sweeps for suspected militants blamed for attacks on Israel. Nearly half had been held without trial.

Charges they faced included stone-throwing, membership in militant organizations and possession of weapons and explosives. The release-list contained few long-serving detainees.

Palestinian leaders spoke of Israeli deceit. Militant groups said Israel was testing their patience.

The road map does not mention a prisoner release but requires implementation of a previous plan which called for release of "all Palestinians arrested in security sweeps who have no association with terrorist activities."

"Israel is making gestures and in response getting complaints," said Gideon Meir, deputy director-general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry.