BEIJING, Dec. 31 (Xinhuanet) -- Israel has announced the names of 26 long-serving Palestinian prisoners it will release this week, as part of a U.S.-brokered plan to resume peace talks.
The Israeli government said the prisoners' crimes were committed before the beginning of the initial Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in 1993. All have served sentences of between 19 and 28 years.
Israel and Palestine resumed peace talks in July, under heavy pressure from the United States. As a precondition, the Palestinians were forced to drop a demand for a halt in Israeli settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem.
In exchange, Israel agreed to release 104 of the longest-serving Palestinian prisoners it holds. This week's release will be the third of four planned phases.
(Source: CNTV.cn)
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