Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas security forces freed on Tuesday evening a number of Islamic Hamas movement's members from its jails in the West Bank, security sources said.
The sources said that eight Hamas prisoners were freed from jails in the West Bank cities of Nablus and Tulkarem, adding that the release of Hamas prisoners is part of a gradual plan to release dozens of Hamas prisoners, Xinhua reported.
On Wednesday, leaders of the two rival movements Fatah and Hamas will hold a first session of dialogue to prepare for an inert-Palestinian reconciliation aimed to end the status of feud which lasted for almost two years.
Hamas movement conditioned that it would join Egypt-brokered dialogue only if Abbas security forces free its prisoners. Hamas says Abbas security forces are holding more than 600 prisoners in its jails.
Senior Hamas spokesman in Gaza Ismail Radwan said in a statement sent to reporters that "the release of Hamas prisoners in the West Bank is a good step in the right direction."
"It is a positive step to start a real and serious dialogue that reunites the homeland and reach a national unity that stops the occupation's activities and the expansion of settlements," said the statement.
Meanwhile, senior Fatah leader and chief of Fatah parliamentary block, Azzam el-Ahmed had earlier said that President Abbas has agreed to form a special committee to study the release of Hamas prisoners from prisons.
He added that the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) security forces would free a number of Hamas prisoners in the West Bank before the dialogue kicks-off in Cairo on Wednesday.
He also said that Fatah movement's delegation, which will head to Cairo on Wednesday, consists of 12 Fatah leaders from the West Bank and Gaza. The delegation would be headed by chief negotiator Ahmed Qurei (Abu Alla).
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