-
Israel has freed 26 Palestinian prisoners, the second of four batches
released as part of a deal that set in motion the current
Israeli-Palestinian talks.Jubilant celebrations kicked off on Wednesday morning in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, where the prisoners are seen as heroes who fought for independence, and were received by their families and Palestinian leaders.
"We greet and welcome our brothers, and we confirm that they will return to their homes and nowhere else," Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, said in a speech to a roaring crowd in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
"Today we talk about the 104 prisoners, and our journey will not be
completed until all the rest of the prisoners are released," he said.
"There will be no agreement while there is still a prisoner who remains
behind bars."
Wednesday's release was part of an agreement brokered by US Secretary
of State John Kerry that brought Israel and the Palestinians back to
the table for talks that had been paralyzed since 2008.In all, 104 Palestinians are to be released in four batches over the coming months.
In the West Bank and Gaza, hundreds of relatives and well-wishers welcomed those freed home. Many have spent more than 20 years in prison.
Throngs of people rushed toward the prisoners as they were freed, hoisting them on their shoulders, waving Palestinian flags and dancing to music.
In Gaza, where five of the prisoners were released, relatives held signs that read "we will never forget our heroes".
"Today is a day of joy for the family and for all of Palestine," said Tayser Shubair, waiting earlier for his brother's release in Gaza.
His brother Hazem was jailed in 1994 for the death of an Israeli, according to the Israeli prison service.
"My brother is a freedom fighter and we are proud of him and we thank the president for his effort to get him out."
Thousands of Palestinians have been held in Israeli prisons since Israel's occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem in the 1967 war. Many have been jailed on charges ranging from throwing rocks to killing Israelis in bombings and gun attacks.
aljazeera.com
30/10/13
--
-
Related:
Νετανιάχου: Σε δημοψήφισμα η οποια συμφωνία με Παλαιστίνιους
Israël: le gouvernement approuve la libération de 104 Palestiniens...
- Israel to free more Palestinian prisoners for peace talks...
GR
FR
DE
ES
IT
RU
EU
Israeli government approves release of 26 more Palestinian detainees....
ReplyDeleteJERUSALEM, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli government approved Saturday the release of 26 more Palestinian detainees as part of goodwill gestures for the resumption of its peace talks with the Palestinians.
A ministerial committee headed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorized the release of the Palestinian prisoners Saturday evening, whose names will be published soon on Israel's Prison Service website, said a statement issued by Netanyahu's media adviser.
"All of the released prisoners perpetrated offenses prior to the Oslo accords and have served sentences of 19-28 years," the statement said, adding that the release of the prisoners will be carried out at least 48 hours after their names are published.
The release will be the third out of four batches involving 104 Palestinians that will be freed from Israeli jails before the April deadline the United States set for Israel and Palestine to conclude their peace talks.
Fifty-two Palestinian prisoners have been freed in the previous two releases since Israel and Palestine agreed to restart their direct peace talks in late July.
The announcement on the latest prisoner release came days before U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's visit to Israel and Palestine, the 10th of its kind this year.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Saturday that Kerry will return to the Middle East to meet with Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on the ongoing final status negotiations.
The United States is seeking to broker an agreement on a "two-state solution" in which Israel would exist peacefully alongside a new Palestinian state.
Kerry reportedly wants the two sides to agree on a framework for an interim accord ahead of a deal in April, which would launch another year of talks aimed at a full-blown peace treaty.
According to Israeli media reports, Netanyahu is expected to announce the building of hundreds of homes in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, a move that the Palestinian side has warned will derail the peace talks.
http://english.cntv.cn/20131229/101828.shtml
29/12/13
Israelis protest Palestinian prisoner release.....Demonstration comes as Israel reveals names of 26 prisoners to be freed as part of ongoing peace negotiations.....
ReplyDeleteDozens of Israelis gathered outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's home to protest against the planned release of Palestinian prisoners.
The demonstration on Saturday came as Israel released a list of 26 Palestinian prisoners to be freed next week amid US-sponsored peace talks.
Netanyahu's office said the release of the prisoners was authorised on Saturday evening, and all of those named had served sentences of 19 to 28 years.
The release was to be carried out at least 48 hours after the list was published, in order to give the Israeli High Court time to look into appeals. But since the government already approved the release, the High Court was expected to reject any petitions.
Meir Indor, the chairperson of Almagor, an organisation that operates on behalf of the victims of attacks, warned against the move, noting: "Releasing terrorists will bring more casualty to the area."
This marks the third group of a total of 104 prisoners Israel agreed to release, with the first two batches freed in August and October.
The US is seeking to broker an agreement on a "two-state solution," in which Israel would exist peacefully alongside a new Palestinian state. The prisoners' release is viewed by the US as a vital confidence-building measure.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/12/israelis-protest-palestinian-prisoner-release-2013122913655481983.html
29/12/13
Dozens rally against prisoner release as court okays move...
DeleteDemonstration makes way to Old City home of soon-to-be-freed inmate; Gazans and East Jerusalemites begin to be transferred from Ofer prison.
Three prisoners who are to be released to Gaza were loaded into vans to make their way to the Erez crossing, and five more began the short journey from Ofer prison in the West Bank to East Jerusalem, where they are from, according to a report in Ynet News. The full complement of prisoners are slated to be released after midnight.
The five are the first East Jerusalemites to be released as part of the four-stage deal, which will see 104 prisoners go free. They will be released to an undisclosed location, and the rest will be transferred to the West Bank, where they are expected to be greeted with fanfare.
The High Court rejected the petition by the Almagor Terror Victims Association to stop the release, as it has done twice before since August, allowing the release to go ahead.
Almagor had claimed that allowing the release of convicted terrorists into East Jerusalem would give the Palestinian Authority a claim over the city.
Despite criticism from the right and left, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the release as a necessary, albeit tough, move for peace.
“Leadership is judged by the ability to implement decisions, difficult as they may be,” Netanyahu told members of his Likud party. “We were not elected to make easy decisions.”
Protests in Israel have intensified in the run-up to the planned release, with grieving families and others holding demonstrations in the capital against the move.
On Monday night, dozens of people armed with black umbrellas marched from the Prime Minister’s Residence to the Old City of Jerusalem, where 15 of them were to demonstrate outside the home of Ahmed Halaf, one of the 26 prisoners slated to be released.
The organizers had originally gone to court to be allowed to protest, but eventually came to a deal with police that only a limited amount of people would approach the home of Halaf.
Earlier in the day, dozens of people protested at the entrance to Jerusalem, attempting to burn tires and block the main road into the city before being stopped by police.............http://www.timesofisrael.com/dozens-rally-against-prisoner-release-as-transfer-gets-under-way/
30/12/13
Israel to free 26 Palestinians on Monday: Source....
ReplyDeleteJERUSALEM: The 26 Palestinian prisoners Israel has agreed to free as part of ongoing peace talks will be released on Monday, a source in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said.
Netanyahu had agreed to the release of 104 Palestinian prisoners in line with commitments to the US-backed peace talks, which resumed in July, and groups have been freed on August 13 and October 30.
"Their release should come on Monday night after the 48-hour delay given for appeals from victims' families to the supreme court," the official in Netanyahu's office told AFP on condition of anonymity.
In the past, Israel's supreme court has turned down all appeals against the release of Palestinian prisoners.
Netanyahu's government gave the green light on Saturday for the latest tranche of prisoners to be freed.
"All the freed prisoners committed their crimes before the (1993) Oslo accords and have served between 19 and 28 years in prison," the government said.
"Anyone who resumes hostile activities" will be arrested and serve out their full sentence, it said in a statement.
The planned release of the latest group of detainees comes as US secretary of state John Kerry prepares for a fresh tour of the region on New Year's Day to try to push talks forward................http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Israel-to-free-26-Palestinians-on-Monday-Source/articleshow/28108150.cms
29/12/13