The Ministerial Committee on the Release of Prisoners this evening , held a discussion following this morning’s Government decision to release approximately 90 Palestinian prisoners without blood on their hands and who are not affiliated with either Hamas or Islamic Jihad.  The Committee discussed detailed criteria and the identities of the prisoners and decided who among the prisoners, whose names appear on the lists that have been prepared by the Justice Ministry and security officials, will be released and who not.  Approximately one-third of the aforesaid 90 prisoners are from the Gaza Strip; the remaining two-thirds are from Judea and Samaria.

The prisoners will be released during the coming week in coordination with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s office.