Over 400 Palestinian prisoners currently held by Israel will be
released on Sunday morning, local daily Yedioth Ahronoth
reported on its website on Wednesday.
The decision to release prisoners was made at a meeting of
Israel's prison system on Wednesday, said the report.
Before being freed, the prisoners will undergo a series of tests
at Ketziot prison near Israel's border with Egypt.
According to the report, most of the prisoners on Sunday will
first be transferred to the West Bank via the Bitunia checkpoint
near Ramallah. Sixteen of the prisoners are residents of the Gaza
Strip and will be brought to the Erez checkpoint, which links
Gazawith Israel.
On Monday, Israeli Cabinet approved the release of 441
Palestinian prisoners as a gesture of goodwill to strengthen
Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas who
demanded Israel free 2,000 security prisoners before a
U.S.-sponsored international summit on Middle East peace.
A ministerial committee approved on Tuesday a list of 432
prisoners to be released. A number of the inmates that appeared on
the original list were removed, because they aligned themselves
with Hamas while in prison, said local daily The Jerusalem
Post.
An estimate of 10,000 Palestinian security prisoners are
currently incarcerated in Israeli prisons.
The international conference, aimed at reviving the stalled
peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, is expected
to be held in Annapolis, Maryland next Tuesday.
(Xinhua News Agency November 22, 2007)
