As part of peace talks between  and the , Israel released on Tuesday early in the morning 26  prisoners imprisoned before the 1994 for murder or attempted murder of Israelis. Israel confirmed the release on Saturday, but delayed it until Tuesday for an Israeli court appeal by victims' families to prevent it. The appeal filed by the 'Almagor' organization representing the Israeli victims' families was not accepted. Addressing the issue, the Israeli Prime Minister,  , said at the meeting of his party, "Leadership is judged by the ability to implement decisions, difficult as they may be. We were not elected to make easy decisions". The United States congratulated Israel on the move and a State Department Deputy Spokeswoman, Marie Harf, told  the Secretary of State,  , expressed "his appreciation for Prime Minister Netanyahu's decision to release the third tranche of prisoners [...] The Israeli government's commitment to release Palestinian prisoners helped enable the start [...] and the continuation of the final status negotiations, and we believe this is a positive step forward in the overall process". Kerry himself is expected to arrive during this week to Israel to promote the peace talks.
As part of peace talks between Israel and the , Israel released on Tuesday early in the morning 26 Palestinian prisoners imprisoned before the 1994 for murder or attempted murder of Israelis. Israel confirmed the release on Saturday, but delayed it until Tuesday for an Israeli court appeal by victims' families to prevent it. The appeal filed by the 'Almagor' organization representing the Israeli victims' families was not accepted. Addressing the issue, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu , said at the meeting of his party, "Leadership is judged by the ability to implement decisions, difficult as they may be. We were not elected to make easy decisions". The United States congratulated Israel on the move and a State Department Deputy Spokeswoman, Marie Harf, told Al Jazeera the Secretary of State, John Kerry , expressed "his appreciation for Prime Minister Netanyahu's decision to release the third tranche of prisoners [...] The Israeli government's commitment to release Palestinian prisoners helped enable the start [...] and the continuation of the final status negotiations, and we believe this is a positive step forward in the overall process". Kerry himself is expected to arrive during this week to Israel to promote the peace talks.
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Israel
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Palestinian
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Benjamin Netanyahu
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Al Jazeera
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John Kerry