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Israel on Monday released a list of 26 Palestinian prisoners to be freed as part of deal that saw peace talks get under way last month.
Twenty of the prisoners were convicted of murder and the rest for aiding and abetting murder. They are to be released on Wednesday shortly before the latest round of peace negotiations are to resume in Jerusalem.
The families of the prisoners’ victims said on Monday that they would appeal to the courts to stop their release.
“It can’t be that our blood was worth so little,” Gila Molcho, whose brother Ian Feinberg was killed 20 years ago, told Israel’s Channel 2 television. “These are murderers who will murder again.” The peace talks were stalled for nearly three years before Israel and the Palestinians returned to the negotiating table two weeks ago in Washington after US mediation. They agreed to work towards an agreement within nine months for a two-state solution to end their decades-long conflict.
The Palestinian Authority, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, made the release of 104 prisoners a condition for resuming the talks.
Monday’s list of the initial prisoners to be released consisted of 14 who are to go home to the Gaza Strip and 12 to the West Bank.
The remaining 78 prisoners are to be released in stages parallel to the negotiations.
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