WEST BANK/ISRAEL: Bereaved family greets son after more than a year in Israeli prison, Israeli leaders update government on outcome of peace conference

Hundreds of Palestinians released in an Israeli gesture to boost Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defence Minister Ehud Barak prepare to launch lengthy peace talks. Palestinians welcomed 429 prisoners released from Israeli prisons on Monday (December 3), to bolster President Mahmoud Abbas after a U.S.-sponsored conference last week on Palestinian statehood, Israeli officials said. The inmates, most of whom belong to Abbas's secular Fatah movement and were serving prison terms ranging from 7 months to 15 years, were bussed from the desert prison of Kitsiyot to Israel's borders with the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank. Families of prisoners who gathered at the Beitunia checkpoint outside Ramallah said they were happy to see their loved ones return, but noted that most of the freed inmates had only a few months left to serve behind bars. In the welcoming celebrations, women wept as they finally got to hug their sons, men and women danced at the Palestinian president's headquarters compound, and children waved flags. But in the West Bank town of Hebron happiness was mixed with sadness, as Nazmi Sharbati who served 20 months in an Israeli jail, returned just in time to attend the funeral of his father. Family members and friends welcomed Sharbati at the entrance to a mosque, and with mourning tears and welcoming smiles led him to the local mosque where the body of his father Atef was laid. "It's a tragic atmosphere, I can't describe the feeling to you, it's supposedly happiness for me and my cousin for being released but unfortunately the delays (of the prisoners' release) by the Israelis is what caused the death," said Zuhdi, cousin of Sharbati who was also released earlier today from an Israeli prison. Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert launched formal peace talks at a U.S. led conference in Annapolis, Maryland last week in an attempt to reach a peace agreement by the end of 2008. "It is (peace process with Palestinians) a complex issue, but it is a path we cannot avoid and we plan to go down this path carefully but seriously. We refused to set deadlines for the conclusion of the talks for obvious reasons, but we do want to finish these negotiations as quickly as needed, to reach an agreement, if possible, as soon as possible," Olmert told parliament members of his Kadima faction in Jerusalem. The prisoner release is meant to strengthen the Palestinian leader against Hamas Islamists who seized Gaza in June. Hamas has rejected the peace moves with Israel, and is launching daily rocket and mortars attacks from the Gaza enclave into southern Israel. Israel replies with strikes from the air and ground operations which the army says are aimed to stop Palestinian militants from attacking the Jewish state. Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said Israel is continuing to operate in the Gaza Strip to dismantle the Hamas militant infrastructure. "(the Israeli army) Hit and killed 27 terrorists, rocket and mortar launchers. This operational effort is proving fruitful, even if it is not in an immediate fashion, even if it takes more than one day, and gradually changes the mindset of the other side, that there is a price, and there will be a growing price for the efforts to continue hurting our citizens," Barak told his labour party faction members in parliament. The issue of prisoners is highly emotive for Palestinians, who see their brethren held in Israeli jails as fighters against foreign occupation. Many Israelis fear that such amnesties encourage Palestinian militants to strike again. There are nearly 11,000 Palestinians held in Israeli jails. The Jewish state says most are there for involvement in militant groups spearheading a Palestinian revolt that erupted in 2000.

ITN Source | December 3, 2007

Tags:. .desert. .rejected. .negotiations. .maryland. .supposedly