JERUSALEM: Israel is poised to decide on the release of around 80 long-serving Palestinian prisoners ahead of renewed peace talks, an Israeli official said on Monday.
US Secretary of State John Kerry announced on Friday that Israeli and Palestinian negotiators had agreed to meet to prepare a resumption of direct peace talks, stalled since 2010.
“The prisoner releases will start when talks commence,” the Israeli official said on condition of anonymity. “We’re talking about releasing them in stages.”
There were “some 80 prisoners” lined up for release, all of them “pre-Oslo,” the official added, referring to Palestinians imprisoned before the 1993 Oslo peace accords.
The official would not say when a decision on their release would be made, and by whom — whether the issue would go before the government, ministers or just Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israeli radio said Netanyahu would present the issue to his Cabinet “in the next few days” ahead of the first meeting between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators expected to take place early next week in US.
Israel to free ‘around 80’ Palestinian prisoners
