More 76 Palestinian prisoners set free

Israel had planned Tuesday to release 69 Palestinians convicted of criminal rather than security offenses after Israeli President Moshe Katsav commuted their sentences. But it put off their release after two Israelis were killed and a dozen wounded Tuesday in suicide bombings at a shopping center near Tel Aviv and a Jewish settlement on the West Bank.
On August 6, Israel released 341 Palestinians held for security offenses as a good-will gesture during the implementation of the US-sponsored peace roadmap. But the release fell well short of demands by the Palestinians for freedom for some 6,000 prisoners.