Israel Sunday approved the release of dozens of Palestinian prisoners in a goodwill gesture meant to promote reconciliation with Egypt and the new Palestinian leadership, officials said. 

The decision came hours after Israel ended a two-day military operation in the southern Gaza Strip, killing 11 Palestinians and leaving dozens of their homes in rubble.

The prisoner release, which comes ahead of Palestinian presidential elections, was part of a prisoner swap with Egypt earlier this month that brought home an Israeli jailed by Egypt on espionage charges. The swap was a peak in warming Israeli-Egyptian relations.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called the decision "a gesture of goodwill, friendship and appreciation to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on his decision to free Azzam Azzam," the accused spy sent home this month after eight years in an Egyptian prison.

But a senior Israeli official acknowledged the release is also aimed at the interim Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, who is seeking election in the January 9 presidential vote.

"It gives them an indication that we want to have an atmosphere of reconciliation," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. He said Israel would consider further releases if the Palestinians take action against militants.

Israel is holding an estimated 7,000 Palestinian prisoners, many accused of security-related crimes. Sharon's office said prisoners actively involved in attacks on Israelis would not be released. The prisoners are to be let go next week, it said.

Palestinian officials have long demanded the release of all prisoners. Yesterday's announcement received a cool reception.

"We consider this step a cosmetic one. We have not been consulted about this release," said Radi Jaraie, the deputy Palestinian minister of prisoner affairs.

Israel has periodically released Palestinian prisoners, most recently as part of a deal to secure the return last January of an Israeli businessman held captive by the Lebanese group Hezbollah.

Palestinian officials have criticized past releases as inadequate, saying the numbers were too small and the prisoners were low level.

Homes in rubble

In Gaza, meanwhile, Israeli troops pulled out of the Khan Younis refugee camp late Saturday, ending a two-day operation that killed 11 Palestinians and wounded dozens more. The operation reduced nearly 40 homes to rubble, UN officials said.

Residents awoke yesterday to piles of broken furniture, clothing and personal household goods strewn throughout the destruction. Men used shovels to salvage belongings, while children stood watching, schoolbags on their backs.

"What can we do, and where can we go? They left us nothing," said Amena Tratori, a 44-year-old mother of six, looking at the mount of rubble that used to be her home.

"If they (the Israelis) think that by killing people and destroying their homes they can stop resistance they are mistaken. The young children will remember the destruction and will never forget," she said.

The Israeli raid came in response to a wave of Palestinian mortar and rocket attacks over the past week. The attacks killed a Thai worker in a Jewish settlement and injured 17 other people, including 11 soldiers, the army said.

The army has said it targeted houses used by militants to launch mortars or rockets.

In other developments, Sharon's Likud Party and the opposition Labor Party appeared ready yesterday to finalize a pact to form a coalition government, an alliance that would bolster Sharon's plans to withdraw from the Gaza Strip next year.

Israeli media reported the deal would be signed late yesterday and the new Cabinet ministers could be sworn in as early as Thursday.

The alliance with the dovish Labor Party will bolster Sharon as he moves forward with plans to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and four small West Bank settlements next year. Hard-line opposition had left Sharon with a parliamentary minority.

Sharon has said the continued occupation of Gaza, where some 8,200 Jewish settlers live amid 1.3 million Palestinians, is untenable.

(China Daily December 20, 2004)