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EREZ CROSSING,Gaza-Twenty-nine Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails arrived here at around noon today, after a 24-hour delay, completing what Israeli officials described as a goodwill gesture to bolster the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah.On Monday, Israel freed 57 Palestinian prisoners, all residents of the West Bank. But the planned release of the prisoners hailing from the Gaza Strip, where the militant group Hamas, the rival Palestinian faction, holds sway, was delayed.The Israeli cabinet had approved the release of about 90 prisoners last week, in part to mark the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.The inclusion of prisoners from Gaza, which Hamas has controlled since violent clashes between the groups in June, was meant “to encourage the moderates in Gaza as well,” a government spokesman, David Baker, said at the time.Both Mr. Baker and the Prison Authority spokesman, Yaron Zamir, blamed “technical reasons” for the delay in releasing the Gazans from Ketziot prison.Israeli news media reported that the delay was caused by Israel’s president, Shimon Peres, who hesitated to sign the pardons for the Gaza prisoners. Channel 2 television reported that Mr. Peres had called for an additional security check of the 29 prisoners after the army chief expressed reservations about their release when an Israeli corporal, Gilad Shalit, remains held in Gaza.Corporal Shalit was seized in a raid by Hamas and two other militant factions in June 2006. A spokeswoman for Mr. Peres did not return calls for commentBy the evening, the prime minister’s office announced that the pardons had been signed and that the prisoners from Gaza would be released today.On Monday, a 14-year-old Palestinian boy was wounded by army fire, according to Palestinian witnesses and medics, when a crowd waiting for the prisoners approached the borderAn Israeli Army spokesman said troops had fired on a crowd after it got too close to the border.Most of the prisoners released Monday are listed on the Prison Authority’s Web site as belonging to Fatah, the faction led by Mr. Abbas. Eleven of those scheduled to be sent back to Gaza are also listed as Fatah members. The rest are described as belonging to the leftist Popular and Democratic Fronts; to other, unspecified organizations; or to the Palestinian Authority.None of those being released are affiliated with Hamas, which Israel, the European Union and the United States consider a terrorist organization. And none had been directly involved in attacks in which Israelis were killed. They had been convicted of various other security charges, including illegal possession of weapons and membership in illegal organizations and shooting at unspecified targets. Most had served at least half of their original sentences. Three of the prisoners from Gaza have served more than 90 percent of their sentences.Hussein al-Sheik, a Fatah leader in the West Bank, told Israel Radio that the prisoner release was important but added: “It’s not enough. There are 11,000 prisoners in the jails.” Mr. Zamir, the Israeli Prison Authority spokesman, said there were about 10,000 Palestinian prisoners currently in Israeli jails.Israel released about 250 prisoners in July, all from the West Bank, in support of Mr. Abbas after the Hamas takeover of Gaza.The Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, is to meet with Mr. Abbas in Jerusalem on Wednesday, in preparation for an international peace meeting scheduled to take place in the US in November.Israeli officials have tried to lower expectations ahead of the November meeting, saying it will address peace in general terms. The Palestinians have called for a more specific document of principles that would serve as a basis for expedited negotiations toward a final settlement.Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, said in an interview with the BBC that his country would not attend the international meeting unless it also addressed Syrian issues, namely the Golan Heights.As in the days of Noah...
