ISRAEL HAS released 550 Palestinian security detainees, completing the second stage of the prisoner swap with Hamas which saw soldier Gilad Shalit released from Gaza in October after more than five years in captivity.
In contrast to the 477 prisoners Israel released in the first stage in October from a list drawn up by Hamas, yesterday’s batch contained no hard-core militants , classified by Israel as having blood on their hands, and no members of Hamas or the Islamic Jihad.
The overwhelming majority were members of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement from the West Bank, and some 300 were due to be released anyway next year on completion of their prison terms.
Issa Karake, the Palestinian Authority’s minister of prisoners’ affairs, criticised Israel for failing to include senior militants among those set free yesterday. “The release did not live up to the expectations of the Palestinians. This phase of the swap is shallow, because most of those coming out had served short sentences.”
Clashes erupted at the Beituniya West Bank crossing last night between relatives of the released men and Israeli troops ahead of the arrival of the buses carrying the former prisoners.
The Palestinian Authority in Ramallah and the Hamas rulers in Gaza held large welcoming ceremonies and celebrations continued into the night. Hamas spokesman in Gaza Fawzi Barhoum said the movement welcomed the release of all prisoners, even if they belonged to rival factions. “We are proud of this great achievement,” he said.
Separately, Israel yesterday issued tenders for 1,028 new homes to be built in West Bank settlements and Jewish neighbourhoods in east Jerusalem.
As part of a wider plan by Israel’s housing ministry to construct 6,000 new homes, 500 homes will be built in the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Har Homa, close to Bethlehem, on land occupied during the 1967 Six Day Arab-Israeli war. Some 348 units will be constructed in the West Bank settlement of Betar Illit, and 180 new homes have been allocated for the settlement of Givat Ze’ev.
Israel decided at the beginning of November to expedite West Bank settlement construction in response to Unesco, the UN cultural organisation, accepting Palestine as a full member.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Mr Abbas, condemned Israel’s decision, saying the move contradicted efforts to revive the peace process.