RAMALLAH, West Bank: Israel released yesterday 198 Palestinian prisoners as a goodwill gesture to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. They were greeted by Abbas at a formal ceremony here.
The freed Palestinians gathered at the Al-Muqata’a presidential headquarters to celebrate their release that rivaled Hezbollah’s July celebration of the release of its prisoners.
The Palestinians were brought into the compound by members of the presidential guard, who also accompanied them to the area where officials formally welcomed them home.
Hundreds of relatives and Fatah members danced and waved the pictures of the prisoners, as well as those of Abbas and late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
Among those freed was Said Al-Ataba, who has been jailed since 1977, Abu-Ali Yatta, a Fatah Parliament member who was imprisoned in 1980, and senior Fatah member Hossam Khader who was a Palestinian Parliament member at the time of his arrest in 2003. Ataba and Yatta were convicted of killing Israelis.
Abbas said during the welcoming ceremony that this was a day of celebration for all Palestinians. “The prisoners are a symbol of Palestinian resistance and are headed by the oldest prisoner. I promise we won’t rest before we bring about the release of all prisoners,” Abbas said.
Prominent among those who remain in Israeli prisons are Marwan Barghouti, Ahmad Sa’adat and Abdul Aziz Dwaik.
Barghouti is the former Fatah secretary-general in the West Bank, who received five life sentences in an Israeli prison for the killing of five Israelis. Sa’adat is the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and charged with involvement in the assassination of Israeli Minister Rehavam Ze’evi. Dwaik is the Hamas speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council. He was imprisoned in 2006 as a bargaining chip for the release of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
Israel timed the release with a visit to the region by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Rice admitted that the Israelis and Palestinians have a “lot of work ahead” if they are to strike a peace deal by the year-end.
