MIDDLE EAST:Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told a parliamentary committee yesterday he is considering the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners as a goodwill gesture ahead of a Middle East peace summit the US is hoping to host in Annapolis, Maryland, in the coming weeks.
A government official said the prime minister was mulling the release of several hundred prisoners and the daily Haaretz reported it could be as many as 400. The prisoners, officials said, would not be drawn from those who "have blood on their hands" - a term Israel uses to denote security prisoners who have been involved in deadly attacks on Israelis.
That number falls far short, though, of the 2,000 prisoners that Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has requested Israel release ahead of the Annapolis summit. There are over 10,000 Palestinian prisoners currently in Israeli jails and the issue of their release is a highly charged one.
Israel has released prisoners belonging to Mr Abbas's Fatah movement to boost his standing, but has refused to free Hamas members. The largest single release in recent months included 250 prisoners.
The prisoner releases are likely to be the only goodwill gesture Israel offers before the Annapolis meeting, which US officials hope will be held before the end of the year.
Israeli defence chiefs are strongly opposed to removing roadblocks and checkpoints in the West Bank, which they argue would result in attacks inside Israel by Palestinian militants.
In Gaza, six people were killed and over 80 injured yesterday after Hamas security forces opened fire at a rally to mark the third anniversary of the death of Yasser Arafat. The rally, attended by 250,000 people, many carrying yellow Fatah flags, was the biggest show of force by the more moderate Fatah movement since it was vanquished earlier this year when Hamas seized the coastal strip by force in June.
The mass gathering descended into chaos as Hamas forces opened fire on the crowd and gunbattles ensued with Fatah militants.
Mr Abbas accused Hamas of committing a "heinous crime". In a statement released by his office in Ramallah, Abbas-appointed Prime Minister Salam Fayyad accused senior Hamas leaders of ordering "these crimes . . . in order to terrify the people".
Hamas officials accused Fatah gunmen of sparking the battles, insisting they had opened fire on Hamas policemen from the rooftops around the square where the rally was taking place.