PLO: Israel 'no' on prisoners 'slap in face' to peace

Israel's refusal to free a final group of Palestinian prisoners Saturday is another obstacle to US efforts to broker peace, a senior official in PA Chief Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party said.

Under the deal which relaunched the talks in July, Israel said it would release 104 Palestinians held since before the 1993 Oslo peace accords in exchange for the Palestinians not pressing their statehood claims at the United Nations.

Zionist regime has so far freed 78 captives in three batches but cabinet members had warned they would block the final release, anticipated for the end of March, if the Palestinians refused to extend the talks beyond their April 29 deadline.

"The Israeli government has informed us through the American mediator that it will not abide with its commitment to release the fourth batch of Palestinian prisoners scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday 29," Jibril Rajub told AFP.

"Israel has refused to commit to the names that were agreed upon of prisoners held by Israel since before the 1993 Oslo agreements," Rajub said.

Fatah official Hazem Abu Shanab said the release of the final group of Palestinian prisoners would be pivotal in determining the future of Israeli-Palestinian relations, noting that the international community will be inclined to hold Israel responsible for hindering the peace process.

"The release of captives is a legitimate, lawful, and human right.

Their freedom should not be linked to concessions regarding extending or continuing the diplomatic process," he told Ma'an.

Israeli officials had no immediate comment.

But Israeli ministers have said previously that the prisoner releases were always conditional on progress in the talks, which had failed to materialize.

Rajub called the Israeli move a "slap in the face of the US administration and its efforts," and said the Palestinians would resume their international diplomatic offensive.

"Not releasing the prisoners will mark the beginning of the efforts in the international community to challenge the legality of the occupation," he said.

The talks have been teetering on the brink of collapse, with Washington fighting an uphill battle to get the two sides to agree to a framework for continued negotiations until the end of the year.

US Secretary of State John Kerry met Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in Amman on Wednesday in a bid to salvage the talks, with US special envoy Martin Indyk meeting the Palestinian leader in Ramallah on Thursday.