Jerusalem, July 08: Israel may decide to free a small number of prisoners from the radical Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the next round of releases, the Haaretz Daily reported today. The government agreed in principle on Sunday to the release of some 350 prisoners currently in detention but sparked anger from Hamas and Islamic Jihad after setting criteria which effectively ruled out the freedom of any of their members. But Haaretz said that security forces had confirmed that "despite the principle not to release activisits of the Palestinian opposition groups, there had been discussions this week on the possibility of releasing a handful of such prisoners." Among those that could be released were activists who were considered to be minor field operatives and not guilty of serious offenses, it added.
Hamas issued a statement late yesterday saying that the decision not to rule out the release of any of its members was "negative and unacceptable".

Hamas and Islamic jihad both agreed to a three-month freeze on anti-Israeli attacks late last month but laid down a raft of conditions, including the release of all Palestinian prisoners.
The decision on Sunday was designed to give further momentum to the fledging ceasefire, but the number of detainees to be freed represents five per cent of some 6,000 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
Bureau Report