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Israelis, Palestinians Discuss Interim Issues
Israel and the Palestinians on Sunday discussed interim issues such as the release of Palestinian prisoners, Israel's troop redeployment in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and security cooperation between the two sides.
Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat and his Israeli counterpart Oded Eran met Sunday afternoon, but nothing has been decided yet.
The Palestinian side had submitted a long list of about 270 Palestinians slated to be released by Israel, and Eran promised Erekat that the Israeli side will think over their release in the future, sources close to the talks said.
The Palestinian side said that there are about 1,600 Palestinians now being held in Israeli jails. Israel had released over 380 Palestinians so far under signed agreements.
Under the Oslo Accords signed by the two sides in 1993, Israel has to carry out the last troop redeployment in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, transferring all the remaining territories to the Palestinians. Israel has handed over about 40 percent of the West Bank to the Palestinians so far.
Eran told Erekat at the Sunday talks that Israel plans to implement the last troop redeployment, but the two sides must reach an agreement on the scope of the redeployment during the final-status talks.
Meanwhile, Eran also asked the Palestinian side to take measures to ensure there will be no violent anti-Israeli demonstrations in the territories, and the release of more Palestinians and further troop redeployment can not be carried out if such violent acts happen in the future, the sources added.
At least six Palestinians were killed and hundreds of others wounded in May when thousands of Palestinians took to the streets in the territories to demand the release of more Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. The Palestinian demonstrators and security forces clashed with Israeli troops.
The Palestinian side strongly urged Israel to implement the Sharm el Sheikh peace deal signed last September and wanted the United States to put more pressure on Israel to force it to implement this deal, Erekat said after the talks.
U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is scheduled to arrive in the region Monday evening to help the two sides push their talks forward.
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