Israel will start to free the first batch of Palestinian prisoners on Wednesday, Israel Radio reported Sunday.
The Israeli ministerial committee on Palestinian prisonersapproved Sunday the release of 443 Palestinian detainees, followingcoordination with the Palestinian National Authority.
A senior government official also said the release "should takeplace this week if there is no major hitch on the ground orterrorist attack."
Shortly after the official's remarks, a shooting attack occurredsouth of Jerusalem, wounding an Israeli mother and her threechildren, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades affiliated to Palestinianleader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed responsibility forthe shooting attack.
It is still unclear how the latest incident will influence theprisoner release.
The list of prisoners slated for release on Wednesday will beposted Monday on a web-site in order to allow Israeli individualsopposed to the releases an opportunity to appeal to the SupremeCourt.
During Sunday's meeting the committee also discussed a requestfrom Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to broaden the criteriafor prisoner releases, but did not make any decision on the matter.