RAMALLAH
A Palestinian activist said Monday that efforts were underway to secure the release of the last batch of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails within days.
"High-level efforts are being made to release the fourth group of prisoners within days," Qadoura Faris, chairman of the Palestinian Prisoners' Club, told Anadolu Agency on Monday.
He said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry would arrive in the Middle East on Monday for talks with Palestinian and Israeli leaders on the prisoners' release and ongoing peace talks.
Under a U.S.-brokered deal, Israel promised to release 104 prisoners held in Israeli jails since before the 1993 Oslo peace accords. In return, Palestinian negotiators promised not to push for statehood at the United Nations.
Israel has already freed 78 prisoners in three phases. A fourth group of prisoners had been due for release last Saturday, but Israel has so far failed to keep its promise – threatening to derail the creaky train of Palestine-Israel peace talks.
Israel Radio had earlier quoted a senior Israeli official as saying that the self-proclaimed Jewish state could reconsider its promise to release the last batch of Palestinian prisoners if peace talks failed to bear fruit.
By Qais Abu Samra
englishnews@aa.com.tr
