Palestinian prisoner Najeh Meqbel’s mother holds his portrait at his home in the Al Aroub refugee camp, just north of the West Bank town of Hebron, yesterday. Meqbel is one of 26 Palestinian prisoners scheduled to be released by Israel.

AFP/Gaza


Israeli warplanes raided the northern Gaza Strip yesterday after militants fired rockets over the border, as Israel readied to free a new batch of long-term Palestinian prisoners.
It was the first air strike on Gaza in more than two months and came shortly after two rockets were fired towards southern Israel.
Despite the flare-up along the Gaza border, which has been quiet for months, Israeli officials said it was unlikely to affect the prisoner release which is due to take place tonight as part of the ongoing direct peace talks with the Palestinians.
Witnesses said the air strike targeted a training ground west of Beit Lahiya that was used by militants from the armed wing of Gaza’s ruling Hamas movement.
Hamas slammed the Israeli raid as “an escalation which aims to terrorise... our people”, adding that it held Israel “completely responsible for any effects or deterioration”.
Neither the air strike nor the earlier rocket attacks on southern Israel caused any damage or casualties.
The Israeli military said the air force had struck “two concealed rocket launchers” in northern Gaza following an earlier cross-border attack.
Earlier yesterday, militants fired two rockets at the southern Israeli port city of Ashkelon, one of which was shot down by the Iron Dome missile defence system, the army said.
And on Sunday, a mortar shell was fired over the border that also caused no damage or injuries. In September, there were two instances of rocket fire, but Israel did not respond.
It was the first Israeli air strike since August 14 when the air force hit targets in the same area, also in response to rocket fire.
That attack occurred just hours after Israel released a first batch of 26 Palestinian prisoners in line with commitments which led to a resumption of direct peace talks in late July, following months of sustained US pressure.
But yesterday’s exchange of fire along the Gaza border was not expected to have any impact on plans to free a second batch of prisoners, with a senior official telling AFP it “won’t delay” the release of another 26 inmates.
The list of prisoners slated for release, 21 of them from the West Bank and five from Gaza, was approved on Sunday.
The names were published later that night, giving victims’ families and groups 48 hours to mount a legal challenge before the release goes ahead.
All but one of them were arrested before the signing of the 1993 Oslo peace accords, which won the Palestinians limited self-rule but failed to bring about an independent state.
All were convicted of murdering Israelis, according to the details published by Israel’s prison service.
A Fatah official said that 19 of the prisoners set to be freed were members of its movement, which is led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, while four belong to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and three to Hamas.
Some 2,000 Israelis, including an ultra-nationalist minister, protested outside the Ofer military prison near Ramallah yesterday chanting “Death to terrorists!” and holding pictures of Israelis killed in attacks.
Meir Indor, head of Almagor, a group representing Israeli victims of Palestinian attacks, had earlier told AFP his organisation would be petitioning the high court against the impending release.