The 26 prisoners are part of a deal to promote ongoing peace talks.

The Israeli government on Sunday, October 27, 2013, approved the release of another 26 Palestinian prisoners as part of a US-brokered deal for the resumption of peace talks between the two sides. Their release was expected to be carried out yesterday, October 29, 2013, the BBC said.

The prisoners are the second set to be freed since last August under the US deal that permitted Israeli and Palestinian officials to resume direct talks in Jerusalem that same month after a three-year break. As part of the process, Israel agreed to release 104 long-serving Palestinian prisoners in phases. They were all convicted of murders committed prior to the 1993 Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation, PLO.

Al Jazeera TV said the freed prisoners served between 19 and 28 years in prison, with 21 hailing from the occupied West Bank and the remainder from the Gaza Strip. A list of the prisoners was posted on the website of the Israel Prisons Service after families of Israelis killed in attacks blamed on the prisoners were notified. But Palestinians earlier said they did not know who was on the list as its initial publication on Sunday was in Hebrew only.

The release of the remaining prisoners is expected to take place in four tranches over a period of nine months, depending on progress in the talks. An Israeli official said last week that the release was linked to the continued construction of Jewish settlements in occupied territories. But Palestinians adamantly denied that there was any such connection, warning that continuing construction in the settlements would threaten the peace talks.