26 veteran Palestinian captives to be freed

The Zionist regime of Israel said on late Sunday it will release 26 veteran Palestinian captives.

The release will come ahead of renewed 'peace' talks between the regime and the Palestinian Authority set for later this week.

All the captives had been arrested in the years leading up to 1994 except one who was arrested in 2001. Fourteen of the prisoners will be transferred to the Gaza Strip and the other 12 to the West Bank.

"Eight of the prisoners on the list are set to be freed in the upcoming three years, two of them in the next six months," said an Israeli statement, according to AFP.

"The release of the prisoners will take place at least 48 hours after publication of the list."

Menawhile, Deputy Palestinian prisoners minister Ziad Abu Ain told AFP they "welcomed the release of any Palestinian prisoner from Israeli jails", but said they hoped the first to be set free would be the older ones. "We hope that Israel will commit to releasing the rest of the prisoners, and ask and hope the Palestinian side will have a partner to choose the conditions and names of those set to be released."

Abu Ain noted that of the 26 named on Monday, 20 were from Fatah, two were members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), two belonged to Hamas, and another two were from the Islamic Jihad.