BICOM

The scheduled release of a group of Palestinian prisoners by Israel has been delayed with no progress having been made in securing agreement from the Palestinian Authority (PA) to extend peace talks beyond their current end of April deadline.

Israel had been expected on Saturday night to free the fourth and final batch in the overall release of 104 Palestinian prisoners, which Israel agreed in order to allow the resumption of peace talks in July. With the deadline on peace negotiations approaching, Israeli leaders, who have expressed their desire to extend talks, want a similar Palestinian commitment to continue negotiations before a release.  However, the PA insists Israel must fulfil its commitment to free prisoners regardless.

Although no official Israeli announcement was made regarding a delay to the prisoner release, Israel’s government is required to publish a list of prisoners to be freed 48 hours in advance to allow for the chance of a legal appeal. Such a list has not yet been released. The Independent quotes Israel Prison Services spokesman Sivan Weizman who said, “there will be no release on Saturday.” Meanwhile, PA Minister for Prisoner Affairs, Issa Qaraqi has warned that, “The prisoners have decided to launch protests” if they are not freed and a Palestinian march will take place towards the Ofer Prison near Ramallah tomorrow evening.

Meanwhile, senior United States officials have continued holding lengthy meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders to find a solution to the impasse over the prisoner release, in order to pave the way for an extension to peace talks. US Secretary of State John Kerry met PA President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday while US special envoy Martin Indyk reportedly came to Jerusalem to meet with Israeli leaders and met with Abbas early this morning. An unnamed senior Israeli official is quoted by Haaretz saying, “There is a chance a deal will be reached, but the ball is in the Palestinians’ court.”