The Palestinian interior ministry in the Gaza Strip has released ten prisoners affiliated to Fatah as a “goodwill gesture” ahead of the arrival of a senior Fatah delegation. Spokesman Iyad Al-Bozom said that the release was ordered by the Palestinian government in Gaza in order to show a “practical move” towards ending the internal division.
In a press statement, the ministry said that it is supporting all discussions and talks among all the Palestinian factions aimed at national reconciliation. The prisons of the Palestinian government in Gaza, run by Hamas, are free of political prisoners, said the ministry, whose statement affirmed that the prisoners freed are Fatah members who had been arrested for actions that “harm the public safety” of the Strip, not for their political affiliation.
The leader of Fatah and the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, President Mahmoud Abbas, said that the Fatah delegation travelling to Gaza will check whether or not Hamas is ready for general elections. However, the head of Fatah’s parliamentary bloc, who heads the delegation, said that he and his colleagues are going to discuss all files related to the internal division.
In order to make the discussions fruitful, Hamas has called repeatedly for the PA to release its prisoners arrested in the West Bank, some of whom have been in jail for seven years, as well as to stop security collaboration with the Israeli occupation authorities.
MEMO Photographer: Mohammed Asad
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