Prisoner release to 'jump start' peace

An Israeli soldier sits next to a 16-year-old Palestinian boy caught with an explosive belt. Picture / Reuters

Israel is to release 900 Palestinian prisoners in a gesture that Government officials suggested yesterday was designed to help "jump start" a peace process ahead of next week's summit between Ariel Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas.

The first 500 could be released soon after the summit in Sharm El Sheik but the release of a further 400 is likely to depend on the new Palestinian leadership taking steps to prevent future militant violence, Israeli officials said.

The decision, which officials projected as a "painful concession" that followed intense Cabinet debate, was given a cautious welcome by Palestinian allies of Abbas, who had pressed for prisoner releases as an essential precondition of a lasting ceasefire.

Israel gave no immediate details of the type of Palestinian prisoners, about 8000 of whom are in Israeli jails, to be released. The Palestinian Authority had asked for 1000 prisoners to be swiftly released - including some detained for militant acts of violence.

One unnamed Cabinet minister told Haaretz that prisoners who had "blood on their hands" because of violent acts against Israel would not be released. Another source, however, said it was possible that some who had killed Israeli soldiers - as opposed to civilians - might be included.

The decision appears to be a further step towards entrenching the highly fragile de facto ceasefire Abbas and the armed factions negotiated almost a fortnight ago. Others include a halt to targeted killings of militants and the referral of any pursuit of militants suspected of being about to commit violent acts to Army and intelligence chiefs.

The ministers also agreed to what appears to be a gradual handover of security to the Palestinian Authority in five West Bank cities.

Sharon was said to have emphasised that the moves were not to replace the authority's obligations to start dismantling "the infrastructure of terrorism" but to strengthen its ability to fulfil them.

Nabil Amr, a close ally of Abbas, said the prisoner releases were a "positive first step".

But Palestinians wounded five Israeli soldiers in two separate attacks on Thursday in the occupied territories, shattering a two-week period of calm, the Israeli military said.

In the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian gunman attacked an Israeli checkpoint with grenades and gunfire, wounding two soldiers, an Israeli military source said. Soldiers fired back at the gunman, killing him, Israeli media reported.

In the West Bank, a gunman opened fire on Israelis near the Eshkolot settlement south of the city of Hebron, wounding three soldiers, one of them seriously, a military source said.

- INDEPENDENT and REUTERS