Israel releases new group of Palestinian prisoners, invades Areiha
Palestine-Israel, Military, 8/7/2003

Israel has started to release of the first group of 300 Palestinian prisoners it had decided to free, amid large Palestinian disappointment.

News reports in Palestine said that scores of prisoners were released at four inspection points in the West Bank and the main crossing between Israel and Gaza which were besieged by strong Israeli security measures.

Since the early hours of yesterday morning families of the detainees started to arrive at Tarqoumia passage, one of the check points where the detainees poured out of the buses which took them from the Israeli detention centers.

The Israeli government says it will free 352 Palestinian prisoners and that next week some 100 prisoners will be released classified by Israel as criminal prisoners.

Israel says that releasing those prisoners comes as a gesture of good will for supporting the realization of progress in the peace process and supporting for the Roadmap. The Palestinians, however, call for releasing more than 7,000 Palestinian prisoners who are still held in the Israeli jails.

The Palestinians opposed the Israeli step. The Palestinian President Yasser Arafat described the releases as "deception and cheating" because most of the Palestinians who are released have almost completed their sentence duration, besides double of the number of the Palestinians were detained in the past few days.

The Palestinian prime minister Mahmnoud Abbas canceled a meeting to be held with his Israeli counterpart Ariel Sharon on Wednesday ( yesterday).

The chairperson of the Palestinian prisoners in the West Bank Khaleda Jarrar said that most of the freed prisoners yesterday are administrative detainees while 80% of the prisoners have only days or months left to complete their imprisonment sentences.

One of the prisoners who was released, called Khaled Sasadeh from Bethlehem said yesterday that he is an administrative detainee and he had just 8 days to complete his imprisonment sentence, while the liberated prisoner Ziad Salim said that he had only one of three months imprisonment.

This ceremonial step by the Israeli forces of releasing Palestinian prisoners coincided with and incursion by the Israeli occupation forces backed by military vehicles in the eastern area of Areiha in the West Bank yesterday morning. The Israeli forces imposed curfew on the city. Palestinians said that the occupation forces detained 8 members of the Palestinian police in the city.

Some 20 Israeli tanks and armored vehicles took part in the breaking in operation and besieged several houses. The Israeli occupation forces which incurred in al-Maghtas street, near a Palestinian training camp for "Force number 17" which provides protection to the Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

Previous Stories:
  Irsaeli forces would five Palestinians in west bank, razes lands in Bethlehem   (8/5/2003)
  Arafat: Sharon's visit to India might escalate tension with Pakistan   (8/4/2003)
  Israeli troops impose curfew on jabaÕ, thrust into Jenin and Nablus   (8/1/2003)
  Dahlan, Mofaz meeting in Jerusalem end without progress   (7/31/2003)

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