JERUSALEM, May 29: The Israeli government on Sunday approved the release of 400 Palestinian prisoners and declared itself ready to allow the United States to mediate a coordinated pullout from Gaza with the Palestinians.
Ministers approved the releases by 18 votes to three, nearly four months after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon pledged to free 900 detainees as part of a series of goodwill gestures at a Middle East summit.
Mr Sharon stressed that none of the 400 would ‘have blood on their hands’ — in other words detained for involvement in militant attacks.
Senior Palestinians slammed what they saw as an insufficient, unilateral decision.
“Israel has strong criticism of the Palestinian Authority over implementing arrangements agreed during the Sharm el Sheikh summit... but we must strengthen the moderate elements within the Palestinian Authority and respect our commitments,” said Mr Sharon.
Israel released 500 prisoners soon after the February summit between Mr Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, but had frozen the second batch of 400 in the wake of a Feb 25 suicide attack.
The Haaretz newspaper said the 400 would be freed at the end of the week. The list of names of those involved is to be published on the Internet to allow the public to appeal against their release.
The Palestinians have expressed disappointment at the number of detainees to be freed and are also pushing for the release of long-term prisoners convicted of taking part in deadly attacks.
“This decision is not enough,” chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said. Prisoners minister Sufian Abu Zaydeh slammed a move that made ‘nonsense’ of a joint Israeli-Palestinian prisoners committee set up at the peace summit.
“This one-sided step does not meet the minimum of our demands,” said Abu Zaydeh. “Our priority is to release young prisoners, the women, the elderly, the sick and political leaders like Marwan Barghuti.”
Palestinian militant groups, which have observed a de facto truce since late January, had made their cool-down conditional on the release of all 7,000 Palestinians held in Israel and a halt to all Israeli aggression.
Following a recent spike in violence, Israel has declared itself willing to ‘help’ shore up Mr Abbas’s credibility with militants who have slammed his failure to exact more concessions from Israel.
Two Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops in less than 24 hours in the occupied West Bank, following an attempted knife attack against an Israeli soldier near Hebron and a shootout near Jenin.
Most of those set for freedom have already served two-thirds of their sentences, Israeli public radio has reported.
Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Health Minister Danny Naveh voted against the releases, criticizing Mr Abbas for not crushing armed groups.
But following last Thursday’s summit between Mr Abbas and US President George Bush, a senior official said Israel was willing for the United States to mediate a coordinated withdrawal from the occupied Gaza Strip this summer.
“We are willing to see an American contribution to a coordinated withdrawal from the Gaza Strip,” said the official in Mr Sharon’s office.
Israel has repeatedly said its plan to uproot soldiers and more than 8,000 Jewish settlers from Gaza and four northern West Bank settlements as of mid-August, was a unilateral gesture.
On Saturday, the Washington Post reported that the United States had expanded the role of its point man for Middle East security to mediate between Israelis and Palestinians on security issues as Israel withdraws from Gaza.
Gen William Ward, appointed by the US State Department in February, is tasked with assisting the Palestinian Authority on security matter.
The Palestinian Authority said on Saturday it was recruiting 5,000 more police to help secure the Gaza Strip when Israel withdraws. —AFP
