Middle East: An Israeli ministerial committee decided yesterday to free some 400 Palestinians from Israeli jails, writes Peter Hirschberg Jerusalem
However, a decision to hold back on authorising the release of members of the radical Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups sparked anger among Palestinians.
Senior Hamas official Dr Abdel Aziz Rantisi warned in Gaza that the Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, would "pay the price" if members of his organisation were not freed.
Some militants have threatened to end the temporary ceasefire they declared on June 29th if large numbers of prisoners are not released.
However, Mr Rantisi intimated yesterday that his organisation would only reassess its position once the three-month period during which it has pledged to cease attacks on Israelis had expired. There are some 6,500 Palestinians in jail in Israel.
An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman said a list of 400 candidates for imminent release had been drawn up.
Mr Yonatan Peled said: "We are confident that these prisoners will be released within a week, maybe in one single move or maybe in two steps."
According to a list presented to the ministerial committee by Mr Avi Dichter, the head of the Shin Bet security service, some 100 Hamas and Islamic Jihad members who were not involved in deadly attacks are up for release.
The committee decided, however, that the freeing of prisoners belonging to one of the Islamic groups would be determined at a meeting of the full cabinet.
Mr Sharon, trying the carrot-and-stick approach, told the ministerial committee that "the releases will be carried out in tightly-supervised, small and measured doses in proportion to proven Palestinian actions in the security sphere".
Aides to the Prime Minister have said that Israel agreed to increase the number of prisoners to be freed - from 350 to 530 - in a bid to strengthen embattled Palestinian Prime Minister Mr Mahmoud Abbas.
However the Palestinians expect thousands to be released.
Mr Hisham Abdel Razeq, the Palestinian Minister of Prisoner Affairs, warned yesterday that if things "do not move" on the prisoner front then Mr Abbas's government could crumble.
The Palestinian leader is facing growing public pressure to extract concrete concessions in his meeting tomorrow with President Bush in Washington.
Information Minister Mr Nabil Amr said that if the Palestinian Prime Minister failed to convince Mr Bush to press the Israelis to make concessions - on prisoner releases and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from West Bank cities - he could face a vote of no confidence on his return.
"If no progress is made in this important visit to Washington, we are sure that Abbas will face a tough situation among the Palestinian people and in the Palestinian Legislative Council."
Meanwhile, a survey of attitudes among Jewish settlers in the West Bank conducted by Peace Now, the leading extra-parliamentary peace group in Israel, found that 74 per cent would accept financial compensation from the state if settlements were dismantled as part of a peace deal with the Palestinians.
Some 9 per cent of respondents said they would be willing to break the law to oppose the uprooting of settlements.