JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday promised to release 250 Palestinian prisoners next month, making a goodwill gesture to the moderate Palestinian leadership in the West Bank even as Israel battles fighters in the Gaza Strip.
Olmert informed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of the planned release during a 90-minute meeting that came amid a new upsurge in fighting.
In new violence, Gaza fighters fired six rockets into southern Israel, causing no injuries but casting a pall over the talks.
The planned prisoner release would be the latest in a series of Israeli gestures meant to bolster Abbas in his standoff with Hamas. “Prime Minister Olmert told the Palestinian president that Israel will release 250 Fatah-aligned prisoners on the occasion of the upcoming holiday Eid Al-Adha,” said David Baker, an Israeli government spokesman.
The prisoner issue is extremely sensitive in Palestinian society. Israel holds more than 9,000 prisoners, and nearly every Palestinian has a relative, friend or neighbor who has served time.
Meanwhile, Hamas yesterday slammed the meeting between Abbas and Olmert saying it is part of a plan to eliminate the movement.
Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman for Hamas, said in a statement yesterday said “in the meeting, Abbas will receive more dictations to liquidate the Palestinian cause and Hamas movement.”
Barhoum was referring to a Fatah-led clampdown against Hamas supporters in the West Bank where pro-Abbas forces rule.
“Abbas has abandoned all his national obligations toward his people and completely adhered to Zionist-American project,” he added. Olmert and Abbas relaunched peace talks a year ago with the goal of reaching a final agreement by December 2008.
Both sides have acknowledged they will not meet this target. But the men hope to lay the foundation for further talks after Olmert leaves office early next year to battle corruption allegations.Elections are scheduled on Feb. 10. While yesterday’s meeting was ostensibly meant to provide an update on where peace efforts stand, Israeli and Palestinian officials said much of the session focused on the tensions in Gaza. Although Abbas lost control of Gaza to Hamas in June 2007, he still claims to be the legitimate representative of the territory.
Israel and Palestinian fighters in Gaza have been engaged in tit-for-tat fighting for the past two weeks, with militants firing rockets into Israel and Israel responding with airstrikes. Seventeen fighters have been killed, and more than 150 rockets and mortars have been fired into Israel.
Israel has closed border crossings, halting shipments of food, fuel and basic supplies into the territory.
The closure has led to shortages of key items, and the United Nations has been forced to halt food aid deliveries to tens of thousands of people.
— With input from agencies
