Israel released seven prisoners from the Arab East Jerusalem on December 30 in a move some say might signal a shift in the government's policy toward this occupied land.

They were greeted by family members and friends at a welcome ceremony outside the Orient House, the unofficial headquarters of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in East Jerusalem.

Six of the freed are members of the Fatah movement established by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and the other one is affiliated with the Palestinian Liberation Front. They had been charged of various security offenses which did not cause fatalities.

Israel let the seven go as a goodwill gesture for the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan. It freed 26 Palestinian prisoners Wednesday in the third and last batch of release under an interim agreement signed with the Palestinians in September.

The latest release marked the first time that Israel has freed residents of East Jerusalem, which it seized from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war.

A local daily, Haaretz, said Thursday that this move might signal a shift in the government's policy to the controversial territory.

Israel has claimed the whole city of Jerusalem as its eternal capital and regards all affairs of the East Jerusalem as its internal business.

The Palestinians reject the Israeli claim and want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

Under signed Israeli-Palestinian peace accords, the status of Jerusalem should be discussed in the ongoing final-status talks, which were launched in September.