Ma'an – The Israeli government approved the release of 441 Palestinian Prisoners on Monday in advance of an international peace conference in the United States next week, Israeli media reported.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had requested that 2,000 Palestinian prisoners released, out of the 11,000 that are currently held by Israel. Abbas and Israeli Prime minister Olmert met in Jerusalem on Monday in an effort to iron out differences in advance of the conference in the US city of Annapolis. Israeli stipulations require that none of the 441 prisoners to be freed will have "blood on their hands," or be members of Hamas. |