Ahead of US-brokered peace talks, Israel today published a list of 26 long-term Palestinian prisoners to be released in the first stage of a phased deal to bolster the delicate process of negotiations.
But coming a day after Israel announced plans to build new settler homes in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, the move has dampened the spirit on the Palestinian side ahead of Wednesday's peace talks in Jerusalem.
The Israel Prison Service (IPS) published overnight a list of 26 Palestinian prisoners who will be released from Israeli jails ahead of renewed peace negotiations after a ministerial panel approved their release.
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The names of the prisoners, incarcerated for more than a decade for killings of Israelis, were released on the IPS website after the families of the victims were notified of the pending release.
The public now has 48 hours to appeal the release.
The first 26 Palestinian prisoners on the Israel Prisons Service list do not include any Israeli Arab citizen.
Fourteen of the 26 Palestinian prisoners are to be released to the Gaza Strip, and the remaining 12 will go to the West Bank, the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement close to midnight.
Eight of those to be released were in any event to be released over the next three years, with two of them up for release within the next six months.
Three of the five ministers, authorised by the cabinet, two weeks ago to draw up the list of 104 prisoners to be released in four stages over the next nine months of negotiations met late last night to come up with the names.
The meeting was chaired by Defence Minister Moshe Ya'alon, in the absence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who was recovering from a Hernia operation. It also included Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Science and Technology Minister Yaakov Peri.
Israel's internal security (Shin Bet) head Yoram Cohen, as well as representatives from the Israel Prison Service, the army and the Justice Ministry also attended the meeting.
It was stressed during the meeting that any of the released prisoners arrested again for hostile action against Israel would be sent back to prison for the remainder of their original sentence.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas in his response said that no released Palestinian prisoner will be deported "from any part of his homeland."
At a meeting in Ramallah with Palestinian Minister of Prisoner Affairs Issa Qaraqi, Abbas stressed the continued effort on the part of the PA in releasing all detainees held in Israeli jails, stating the issue was of "top priority", PA's official news agency Wafa reported.
The first batch of prisoners will be released before Israel's Justice Minister Livni and PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat meet on Wednesday in Jerusalem to begin talks.
