Sonja Pace
Jerusalem
04 Jul 2003, 14:06 UTC
Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas is in Gaza, where he is expected to meet with Islamic Jihad leaders Friday, in an effort to shore up a five-day-old, but still fragile cease-fire. At the same time, Israel is reported drawing up a list of Palestinian prisoners to be released, possibly by next week.
Prime Minister Abbas wants to convince Islamic Jihad militants to stay on board with the truce, and he would like to also convince smaller, splinter groups to join the cease-fire.
Three main Palestinian factions, Islamic Jihad, Hamas and Fatah, agreed last Sunday to halt attacks against Israelis for the next three months.
But, Islamic Jihad and Hamas have warned that, unless Israel releases the thousands of Palestinians held in Israeli jails, the truce could break down.
Israel has released several dozen Palestinian prisoners, but Islamic Jihad has dismissed the move as cosmetic. Israel is reported holding more than 5,000 Palestinian prisoners. According to Israeli media, the security service, Shin Bet, is drawing up a list of prisoners to be released and will present that list to the Cabinet on Sunday.
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