Caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Monday that 250 Palestinian prisoners would be freed in a goodwill gesture, as Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas urged Israel to maintain the Gaza truce. The two met in Jerusalem for the first time in two months.
The meeting came amid rising tensions in and around the besieged Gaza Strip where Israeli forces and Palestinian militants have continued to engage in retaliatory almost everyday since November 4.
"Abbas had asked him to free Palestinian prisoners and Olmert told him of the decision to release 250 at the beginning of December," said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat after the meeting.
In a similar move in August, Israel freed 198 Palestinian prisoners. Over 11,000 Palestinian prisoners sill languish n Israeli jails.
A senior Israeli official said that no prisoner with affinity to radical Palestinian movements, such as Hamas, would be freed.
Hamas seized power in the Gaza Strip in June 2007, since then secularists like Abbas have been limited to West Bank.
He added that during talks held at Olmert's official residence in Jerusalem, Abbas stressed "the need to maintain the truce in Gaza because it eases the suffering of the Palestinian people."
Abbas also urged Palestinian militants to maintain the fragile truce that went into effect in and around Gaza on June 19. "In other words, stop the futile rocket firings that don't help the Palestinian cause in any way," Abbas said.
Abbas also met British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who said it was "vital" to maintain the ceasefire. "The discussions you have had today (with Olmert) seem to me to be a very important contribution to that," Miliband is reported to have told the Palestinian leader.
Escalating violence has resulted in Israel tightening its blockade over the Gaza strip, cutting supplies to the aid-dependent region, though it lifted the embargo to allow the entry of humanitarian supplies on Monday for the first time in almost two weeks.
A report on AFP, attributing the information to a well placed Israeli official said, Olmert told Abbas that Hamas is to blame for violations of the truce in and around the Gaza Strip, and warned that in case of further escalation in violence Isael will be left with no option but to respond.
On Monday, several rockets fired from Gaza hit southern Israel without causing any casualties.
Both sides accuse the other of ceasefire violations, since November 4, several rockets and mortar rounds have been fired into Israel from the strip and retaliatory action from Israel resulted in the deaths of at least 15 Gaza militants.
Israel responds to attacks by tightening the blockade over the region, it imposed after the 2007 Hamas takeover, but said it allowed 33 truckloads of humanitarian supplies into the coastal strip on Monday.
A UN spokesman said that many more deliveries are needed in the impoverished and overpopulated Palestinian territory.
The UN Works and Relief Agency distributes food to 750,000 Gazans -- half the population.
Escalating violence as well as the political and geographical division of the Palestinian territories between Hamas-ruled Gaza and the West Bank under Abbas have complicated the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.
The meeting came amid rising tensions in and around the besieged Gaza Strip where Israeli forces and Palestinian militants have continued to engage in retaliatory almost everyday since November 4.
"Abbas had asked him to free Palestinian prisoners and Olmert told him of the decision to release 250 at the beginning of December," said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat after the meeting.
In a similar move in August, Israel freed 198 Palestinian prisoners. Over 11,000 Palestinian prisoners sill languish n Israeli jails.
A senior Israeli official said that no prisoner with affinity to radical Palestinian movements, such as Hamas, would be freed.
Hamas seized power in the Gaza Strip in June 2007, since then secularists like Abbas have been limited to West Bank.
He added that during talks held at Olmert's official residence in Jerusalem, Abbas stressed "the need to maintain the truce in Gaza because it eases the suffering of the Palestinian people."
Abbas also urged Palestinian militants to maintain the fragile truce that went into effect in and around Gaza on June 19. "In other words, stop the futile rocket firings that don't help the Palestinian cause in any way," Abbas said.
Abbas also met British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who said it was "vital" to maintain the ceasefire. "The discussions you have had today (with Olmert) seem to me to be a very important contribution to that," Miliband is reported to have told the Palestinian leader.
Escalating violence has resulted in Israel tightening its blockade over the Gaza strip, cutting supplies to the aid-dependent region, though it lifted the embargo to allow the entry of humanitarian supplies on Monday for the first time in almost two weeks.
A report on AFP, attributing the information to a well placed Israeli official said, Olmert told Abbas that Hamas is to blame for violations of the truce in and around the Gaza Strip, and warned that in case of further escalation in violence Isael will be left with no option but to respond.
On Monday, several rockets fired from Gaza hit southern Israel without causing any casualties.
Both sides accuse the other of ceasefire violations, since November 4, several rockets and mortar rounds have been fired into Israel from the strip and retaliatory action from Israel resulted in the deaths of at least 15 Gaza militants.
Israel responds to attacks by tightening the blockade over the region, it imposed after the 2007 Hamas takeover, but said it allowed 33 truckloads of humanitarian supplies into the coastal strip on Monday.
A UN spokesman said that many more deliveries are needed in the impoverished and overpopulated Palestinian territory.
The UN Works and Relief Agency distributes food to 750,000 Gazans -- half the population.
Escalating violence as well as the political and geographical division of the Palestinian territories between Hamas-ruled Gaza and the West Bank under Abbas have complicated the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.
No comments:
Post a Comment