Israel frees 500 Palestinian prisoners

Israel freed 500 Palestinian prisoners in a good-will gesture today as part of a ceasefire agreed a few weeks ago.

Israel freed 500 Palestinian prisoners in a good-will gesture today as part of a ceasefire agreed a few weeks ago.

The move comes a day after the Israeli government approved a pullout from Gaza and a revised route of the West Bank separation barrier that would encompass at least six per cent of land claimed by the Palestinians for a future state.

With the historic Cabinet vote, Israel began charting its final borders, bypassing negotiations and angering the Palestinians. The Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said the decision to leave Gaza and four settlements in the northern West Bank was the hardest he ever made, but would ensure a better future for Israel.

Sharon signed an order saying Israeli civilians would have to leave the areas marked for evacuation by 20 July. Those remaining would be removed by force over a period of two months. Settler leaders have pledged not to leave voluntarily, and security officials are bracing for violent confrontations.

In the West Bank, the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas won the backing of his Fatah movement for a new 24-member Cabinet after a stormy debate, clearing the way for approval of the new ministers by parliament later today.

The release of Palestinian prisoners saw convoys of buses carrying shackled inmates leaving Israel's desert prison camp of Ketziot at dawn. They arrived at five drop-off points on the edges of the West Bank and Gaza Strip just before noon, military officials said. They were greeted by cheering crowds of relatives, who reached out to touch and hug them.

Suhail Abu Madala, 35, spent four years in prison and had three more years to serve when he was set free. After being reunited with brothers and sisters and his 12-year-old son, he said: "I cannot believe that I'm smelling the air of freedom, that I will see my family.

"Nothing can describe my joy and my feelings. But I left behind me brothers in jail who need to be released."

Israel has promised to release 400 more prisoners within the next three months. Those freed had not been involved in attacks on Israelis. A joint Israeli-Palestinian ministerial committee will decide which prisoners will be released in the second round. Israel is resisting Palestinian demands to free those serving long terms, including for attacks on Israelis.