Israel releasing 429 Palestinian prisoners

Israel today began releasing 429 Palestinian prisoners.

The gesture was meant to strengthen moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas after both sides decided at last week’s US-sponsored Mideast conference to try to reach a peace deal in 2008.

At dawn, dozens of prisoners lined up in a courtyard at the Ketziot Prison Camp in the southern Negev Desert.

Wardens and security agents sitting at tables checked names against a list, clamped handcuffs on the prisoners and put them on waiting buses.

The Israeli prison service said 408 Palestinians would be sent to the West Bank and 21 to Gaza.

Israel is holding about 9,000 prisoners. Their release is a central Palestinian demand, and the release was intended to strengthen Abbas in his struggle against the Islamic Hamas.

Yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert dampened optimism from the Mideast conference, saying Israel did not recognise the 2008 target date as a deadline for peacemaking.

“There is no commitment to a specific timetable regarding these negotiations,” Olmert told his Cabinet, adding that before steps were taken, Palestinians must halt militants’ attacks against Israel.

The comments reflected Olmert’s internal political weakness. Hardliners have threatened to bring down his coalition government if he makes too many concessions in peace talks with the Palestinians.

In a message that could further anger Israeli hawks, Olmert’s defence minister, Ehud Barak, said he supported a measure to give compensation to Jewish settlers in the West Bank who leave their homes voluntarily.

The measure would apply to settlements outside Israel’s separation barrier along the West Bank. The contentious barrier is meant to enclose main settlement blocs Israel plans to retain in a peace agreement, where two-thirds of the settlers live. The others, about 80,000, could claim compensation if they leave.

Settler leaders condemned the proposal. They oppose any building freeze or evacuation of settlements, even unauthorised outposts that dot West Bank hilltops.

The 2003 “road map” peace plan, reaffirmed at the Annapolis summit, requires Israel to remove dozens of outposts and halt all construction in the settlements.

Under the plan, the Palestinians must rein in militant groups that attack Israel – a task that will be hard for Abbas to carry out so long as Hamas rules the Gaza Strip.

Hamas wrested control of the territory from forces loyal to Abbas in June, and remain firmly in control there. While Abbas claims to have authority over the territory, in practice he does not.

Hamas government spokesman Taher al-Nunu said Olmert’s statement showed Israel has nothing to offer the Palestinians. He appealed to Abbas to join forces with Hamas and fight for a Palestinian state.

Rockets fired from Gaza land in southern Israeli towns almost daily, disrupting life there. Hamas said militants lobbed 34 mortar shells at Israel yesterday. Last night, four soldiers were slightly wounded by a shell.

Israeli ground forces hit back, targeting a mortar squad in Gaza City, the Israeli Army said. Hamas and hospital officials said one militant was killed and six wounded.

In Gaza, garages closed yesterday after owners refused to accept the reduced amounts of petrol offered by Dor Alon, the Israeli company that supplies Gaza.

Garage owners blamed an Israeli decision to cut back on fuel supplies, but Dor Alon officials said they were cutting back because the Palestinians have not paid their bills.

“We ask our Palestinian people to be patient and not to hurry to go the stations and ask for fuel,” said Mahmoud al-Khozondar, a representative of the owners. “I think God will help us first.”

Hamas officials blamed the Abbas government for not paying the petrol bills, warning that the reduction could trigger a health crisis.