Israel’s cabinet approved the release of 26 Palestinian prisoners, most of whom were convicted of killing Israelis. The release is part of a promise Israel made to the Palestinian Authority to release more than 100 long-serving prisoners as part of restarting negotiations. All of the prisoners have been in Israeli jails for more than two decades. Five of the prisoners will head to Gaza and 21 to the West Bank. They will be met with celebrations. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas promised to work to get more prisoners freed.
Prisoner releases are unpopular with the Israeli public, and several thousand Israelis demonstrated outside the jail where the Palestinians were brought prior to their release. “The decision to free prisoners is one of the most difficult I made as prime minister,” Israeli leader Binyamin Netanyahu said. “This decision was necessary in our current reality. We have to navigate through a complex international arena full of challenges.”
The Israeli-Palestinian negotiations have now entered their fourth month, and more than a dozen meetings have been held. Both sides have agreed not to leak details of the meetings to reporters, but there have been no reports of a breakthrough.