ISRAEL REJECTS AMERICAN, PALESTINIAN CALL FOR EARLY PRISONER RELEASE
Ramallah, 5 Dhul Hijja 1434/10 October 2013 (MINA) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a Palestinian and American request, Wednesday, to move up the release of the second group of Palestinian prisoners as part of the renewed negotiations with between the two sides.
The Israeli daily Haaretz said that release was originally scheduled to take place on October 29. But the Palestinians wanted it moved up to coincide with the holiday of Eid al-Adha, which begins this Sunday, Saudi Gazette quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA) as reporting.
The report quoted a senior Israel official as saying that Netanyahu has told both the United States and the Palestinian Authority recently that he will release the prisoners as scheduled, despite a series of violent incidents in the West Bank in recent weeks, including the killing of two Israeli soldiers and the attack that wounded a nine-year-old girl in the Jewish settlement of Psagot last Saturday.
According to the official, Netanyahu has resisted the pressure from the Israel right and plans to release the prisoners on schedule.
On July, Israel agreed to a four-stage release of 104 prisoners who were arrested before the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, in order to facilitate the resumption of American-brokered peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
Some 5,100 Palestinian and Arab prisoners remain in Israeli jails. The first group of prisoners was released in August, just after talks between the two sides restarted.
For his part, the Palestinian Minister of Detainees and Ex-detainees Issa Qaraqi’ said that the Israeli the Israeli government is refusing to reveal the names of the second group of prisoners and refuses to cooperate with the Palestinian leadership in preparing the lists of prisoners to be released in the future.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas insists that prisoners must be freed in line with to the peace agreements reached with Israel.
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met early this week for the ninth time since peace talks were renewed at the end of July in Washington in an attempt to solve the final status issues; Jerusalem, refugees, boundaries, settlements and security.
The parties, led by chief Palestinian negotiator Sa’eb Erekat and Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, made the talks under a complete media blackout, with the Israeli side not saying where or when they will take place, or even confirming their existence. Top Palestinian and Israeli officials lowered expectations from the relaunched peace talks. (T/P09/E1).
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA).
