In a goodwill gesture, Israel today started the release of 224 Palestinian prisoners aimed to build confidence in the peace negotiations.
Jerusalem, Dec 15 (PTI): In a goodwill gesture towards the moderate Palestinian leadership, Israel today started the release of 224 Palestinian prisoners aimed to build confidence in the peace negotiations.
The release of the 224 Palestinian prisoners was aimed at strengthening the moderate Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas after the the Supreme Court gave the green light to the measure following initial hesitation due to petitions challenging the release of some on grounds of "blood on their hands".
Israel was to release 227 Palestinians initially but Israeli Prison Service spokesman, Yaron Zamir, said that only 224 were freed, while the release of three others were still under review.
The prisoners were being transferred from different prisons by buses to the Beituniya checkpoint from where they would be entering the West Bank town of Ramallah.
The Israel government in a statement earlier had said that 209 prisoners were to be transferred from Ofer Prison, near Jerusalem, to Beituniya and another 18 from the Shikma Prison in the Negev, to the Erez checkpoint on the Israel-Gaza
border.
"We hope these releases will be seen as an important confidence-building measure designed to strengthen the trust and the confidence in the [peace] negotiations," government spokesman, Mark Regev said.
The release was supposed to take place before the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha but some reports said that it was delayed because President Abbas wanted to be around to receive those released to gain political mileage out of it.
The PA denied the charges with some sources blaming it on technicalities on the Israeli side.
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