Israel yesterday began releasing 429 Palestinian prisoners, a gesture meant to strengthen moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas after both sides decided at last week's US-sponsored Middle East conference to try to reach a peace deal next year.
At dawn, dozens of prisoners lined up in a courtyard at the Ketziot Prison Camp in the southern Negev Desert. Wardens and security agents sitting at tables checked names against a list, clamped handcuffs on the prisoners and put them on waiting buses that began setting off for crossings into the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The Israeli prison service said 408 Palestinians would be sent to the West Bank and 21 to Gaza.
PHOTO: AFP
Israel is holding about 9,000 prisoners. Their freedom is a central Palestinian demand, and yesterday's release -- the third since July -- was intended to strengthen Abbas in his struggle against the Islamic Hamas by showing Palestinians that moderation pays.
Abbas' government had asked that 2,000 prisoners be freed, but Israel refused. Including the prisoners released yesterday, about 770 Palestinians will have been freed since July, a number the Palestinians find wanting.
On Sunday Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert damped optimism from the Mideast conference, saying Israel does not recognize the 2008 target date as a deadline for peacemaking.
"There is no commitment to a specific timetable regarding these negotiations," Olmert told his Cabinet, adding that before steps are taken, Palestinians must halt militants' attacks against Israel.
The comments reflected Olmert's internal political weakness. Hard-liners have threatened to bring down his coalition government if he makes too many concessions in peace talks with the Palestinians.
In a message that could further anger Israeli hawks, Olmert's defense minister, Ehud Barak, said he supports a measure to give compensation to Jewish settlers in the West Bank who leave their homes voluntarily, according to the Defense Ministry.
The measure would apply to settlements outside Israel's separation barrier along the West Bank. The contentious barrier is meant to enclose main settlement blocs Israel plans to retain in a peace agreement, where two-thirds of the settlers live. The others, about 80,000, could claim compensation if they leave.
Settler leaders condemned the proposal. They oppose any building freeze or evacuation of settlements, even unauthorized outposts that dot West Bank hilltops.
The 2003 "road map" peace plan, reaffirmed at the Annapolis summit, requires Israel to remove dozens of outposts and halt all construction in the settlements.
Under the plan, the Palestinians must rein in militant groups that attack Israel -- a task that will be hard for Abbas to carry out so long as Hamas rules the Gaza Strip.
Hamas wrested control of the territory from forces loyal to Abbas in June, and remain firmly in control there. While Abbas claims to have authority over the territory, in practice he does not.
Hamas government spokesman Taher al-Nunu said Olmert's statement showed Israel has nothing to offer the Palestinians. He appealed to Abbas to join forces with Hamas and fight for a Palestinian state.
Rockets fired from Gaza land in southern Israeli towns almost daily, disrupting life there.
Hamas said militants lobbed 34 mortar shells at Israel on Sunday. Late on Sunday, four soldiers were slightly wounded by a shell, the military said.
Israeli ground forces hit back, targeting a mortar squad in Gaza City, the military said. Hamas and hospital officials said one militant was killed and six wounded.
Early yesterday, three Hamas fighters were killed in clashes with Israeli troops in northern Gaza, the group said. The military said troops saw gunmen approach the security fence that separates Gaza from Israel, opened fire, and identified a hit.
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