Leaders from both Hamas and the Islamic Jihad viewed the Israeli proposal to release Palestinian prisoners as nothing more than a ‘publicity stunt’ which the Sharon government has begun. They called for more steps to guarantee the release of the more-than 8,000 Palestinian prisoners currently detained in Israeli prisons.
The Islamic Jihad leader - Nafeth Azzam - told Al Bawaba “we are happy when any Palestinian prisoner is released, whether he is member of Islamic Jihad or another movement. But the Israeli proposal is not enough and it is irrational that efforts should stop at this point, as there are 8000 prisoners in Israeli jails.”
Israel released Monday the names of the Palestinian prisoners who are expected to be released Wednesday. The list includes 190 security prisoners, 160 administrative prisoners and 90 criminal prisoners.
Azzam suggested that there is no one from the Islamic Jihad or Hamas on the list of soon-to-be-released prisoners, and ruled out any possibility [by Israel] of releasing them.
For his part, Hamas leader Ismael Haniyyeh also viewed the Israeli move as “a political game that is aimed at gaining publicity for the Israeli government.”
For his part, PA chairman Yasser Arafat described the Israeli move, in a statement Monday outside his besieged headquarters in Ramallah, as a ‘publicity campaign’. He said “the Israelis may release 400 prisoners one day, and arrest another 800 the next day.”
In the same context, Israeli Prime Minster Ariel Sharon vowed he would not release any Palestinian involved in the killing of Israelis.
Abu Mazen
Palestinian Prime Minster Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) headed Monday to Gaza to meet with leaders of the Palestinian factions to discuss the ‘road map’ - ahead of his meeting with Sharon. Leaders confirmed to Al Bawaba that the extension of the truce with Israel seems ‘impossible’ at this point in time in view of Israel’s violations to it.
Palestinian sources told Al Bawaba that Abu Mazen has reached Gaza and is gearing up to meet the Palestinian faction leaders, particularly Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders.
Islamic Jihad leader Nafeth Azzam told Al Bawaba via telephone that the agenda for the meeting has not yet been agreed upon by the concerned parties. He said “his movement will raise issues affecting the Palestinian people, and we will discuss the relations between the Palestinian government and themselves. The discussions will also include the issue of the prisoners and the need to press Israel to withdraw its forces from the Palestinian lands [in the West Bank] and put a halt to arrests.”
For his part, Hamas leader - Ismael Hanniyyeh - said, “so far, no date has been set for a meeting with Abu Mazen. If however a meeting is convened, we will shed light on the nature of Israel’s violations [to the truce].”
Several sources have said that Abu Mazen will most likely propose an extension to the three month truce announced on June 29, 2003 for a further three months. This is expected to strengthen Abu Mazen’s position on the international level prior to his expected tour of the Arab world and Europe which he has planned for the foreseeable future.
“We cannot confirm that Abu Mazen will propose the extension of the truce. We believe that the priority now should be given to discussing the suffering of the Palestinian people and the need to help alleviate that. When we in Hamas and other factions announced the truce, it was a big step (favor) for Israel but the Israeli government has not given us anything in return,” said Haniyyeh.
Also, Hanniyyeh ruled out the possibility of Abu Mazen proposing an extension to truce in view of strong Palestinian resentment of Israel’s behavior. (Albawaba.com)
