Israel Releases 198 Palestinian Prisoners As Abbas Says No Peace Without Releasing All Prisoners

Early Monday morning 198 Palestinian prisoners were released from Ofer Prison, near the West Bank city of Ramallah. Before getting on the buses which would take them to the Beituniya crossing near Jerusalem, the former inmates signed a commitment to never engage in terror activities again. Hundreds of relatives and Fatah members waited at the crossing, for the prisoners released by Israel as a gesture to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. While Israel regards the move as a confidence building step between the two sides for upcoming peace negotiations, the Palestinians point out that the prisoner release is only a small step in the right direction. The prisoners were greeted at the Muqataa Presidential Compound in Ramallah by a huge celebration attended by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and senior Palestinian officials. During the celebrations the oldest surviving Palestinian prisoner, Sayid Al-Ataba, who was released today after serving over 28 years in Israeli prison visited the grave of Yasser Arafat. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas then addressed the gathering saying that despite the great happiness, there is also sadness over the 11,000 Palestinian prisoners who are still in Israeli prisons. He then promised that there will never be peace until all Palestinian prisoners are released.