The proposed releases come ahead of Sharon’s visit to Washington

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, July 27 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The Israeli cabinet approved Sunday, July 27, the release of some 100 Palestinian Islamic prisoners proposed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ahead of his trip to Washington, but Hamas dismissed the move as "insignificant."

Fourteen ministers voted in favor of releasing members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, while nine opposed the move, aimed at appeasing Washington where Sharon is due to hold talks with U.S. President George W. Bush Tuesday, July 27, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

Far-right ministers and hardliners from Sharon's own Likud party opposed the measure.

The government had already approved the release of some 350 Palestinians, but most of them were administrative detainees who would have been freed soon in any case.

The cabinet had initially stated that no Hamas or Islamic Jihad's members "with blood in their hands" would be released from Israeli jails.

However, the two groups have conditioned the suspension of anti-Israeli attacks they declared a month ago on the release of all estimated 6,000 Palestinians detained by Israel.

U.S. President George W. Bush ruled out Friday, July 25, during his meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmmoud Abbas in the White House asking Israel to release all of the estimated 6,000 Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails – a key demand of the visiting official.

'Insignificant'

Hamas leader Ismail Abu Shanab, however, dismissed the Israeli initiative as "insignificant."

Speaking to Al-Arabiya news channel on Sunday, Abu Shanab said that the would-be freed prisoners were administrative detainees who had already served time.

He said Hamas would never give up its demand of releasing all Palestinian prisoners, asserting that the resistance movement was still committed to the three-month freeze of anti-Israeli attacks.

Ismail Haniya, another Hamas leader, dismissed the cabinet decision and insisted his movement would not be satisfied until all prisoners were released.

"This decision is not sufficient. All detainees must be released unconditionally. If not, the Israeli occupation will be entirely responsible for the consequences," he told AFP.

Also speaking to AFP, Islamic Jihad leader Mohammad al-Hindi described the measure as "a smokescreen aimed at deceiving international public opinion on Israel's true intentions".

But Palestinian information minister Nabil Amr welcomed the decision.

"This measure is encouraging. It will be even more encouraging if Israel decides on more releases and if there is an agreement between Israeli and Palestinian ministers for these releases," he told AFP.

For his part, Palestinian Labor Minister Ghassan al-Khattib said that the Palestinian Authority would only trust Israel if the latter translated its words into concrete steps.

In another development, Israel allowed Sunday a major roadblock in the West Bank to be lifted.

One Israeli and two Palestinian bulldozers removed the concrete blocks which had prevented vehicles from moving between the West Bank city of Ramallah and some 40 towns and villages to the north, including Bir Zeit University.

Some 100,000 Palestinians queue up every day to gain access to the town.

The Ramallah governorate said the Ein Arik roadblock west of Ramallah would also be dismantled and there were media reports the Huwara checkpoint guarding access to the northern city of Nablus could also be removed.