The Israel Prisons Service began the release of jailed Palestinian prisoners late Monday morning, as 57 prisoners are currently being transferred from Ketziot prison to Bituniya checkpoint near the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Another 30 prisoners were expected to be freed and sent home to the Gaza Strip later in the day. But procedural and legal questions may delay their release at least until Tuesday, local Ha 'aretz said.
The release of the prisoners was supposed to take place early Monday morning but was delayed due to technical problems.
The move is widely seen as an effort to bolster the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The 87 prisoners are mostly members of Abbas' Fatah faction, along with several who are members of smaller Palestinian factions. None of them was affiliated with Hamas.
The prisoner release is set to come ahead of formal talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams aimed at drawing up a joint document for next month's U.S.-hosted Middle East peace meeting.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will host Abbas at his residence in Jerusalem on Wednesday. The meeting was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but was pushed off a day for what officials in the Prime Minister's Office described as technical reasons.
The prisoners' release was made possible after the cabinet approved the move last week as a Ramadan goodwill gesture to Abbas.
Israel is holding around 11,000 Palestinian prisoners. Abbas has been demanding that Israel release more prisoners during his recent meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Source: Xinhua
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