The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
August 14, 2013

Israel Releases Palestinian Prisoners, OKs More Settlements on Eve of Talks 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------


 
Israel has released the first wave of Palestinian prisoners under a
U.S.-brokered deal to resume peace talks with the Palestinian Authority.
On Tuesday, 26 inmates were returned home to the West Bank and Gaza,
about one-quarter of the total set to receive their freedom. Most have
been behind bars for over two decades. The peace talks continue in
Jerusalem today after their launch in Washington last month. But on the
eve of the new sessions and just hours before the prisoners' release,
the Israeli government announced yet another new round of settlement
construction in the occupied West Bank. More than 900 settlements homes
were approved near the Palestinian town of Beit Jala. This comes on top
of the 1,200 settlement units approved on Sunday.

 

.