ISRAEL: Israel's prime minister Ehud Olmert plans to announce next week a partial freeze in Jewish settlement activity, the release of up to 400 Palestinian prisoners and the removal of some West Bank travel restrictions.
Israeli government sources said on Thursday the gestures were meant to bolster Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and persuade Arab states like Saudi Arabia to attend a US-sponsored conference on Palestinian statehood in the last week of November.
Preparations for the conference in Annapolis, Maryland, have been marred by disputes between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators over a joint document, though Israeli and American officials said agreement on the paper was not a requirement.
It is unclear whether a partial freeze in settlement building in the occupied West Bank and the release of up to 400 prisoners would satisfy key Arab states.
Government sources said Mr Olmert would ask his cabinet on Monday to approve the release of the prisoners. They said Mr Olmert would only agree to release prisoners who do not have "blood on their hands", a reference to attacks against Israelis.
Mr Abbas had sought the release of 2,000 prisoners.
The sources said Israel also planned to ease some travel restrictions in the West Bank, such as the removal of dirt mounds that limit travel around certain Palestinian villages. Israel has not lived up to similar pledges in the past.
Negotiators on both sides cast doubt on the prospects of reaching an agreement on the joint document meant to address "core" issues, such as borders and the future of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees.
"I don't think there will be a joint document," said a senior Israeli official involved in the negotiations.
Meanwhile, US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice called Mr Abbas to discuss the negotiations, an Abbas aide said. "There is still a need for serious efforts to resolve the obstacles which exist. It will require big efforts," the aide said.
The US State Department said it believed the parties would agree on a joint document in time. Palestinian negotiators plan to visit Washington next week to try to finalise the details while US officials said Dr Rice was not expected to return the Middle East before the conference.