Israel's Cabinet on Sunday approved a list of names of 500 Palestinian prisoners to be released in coming days.
An Israeli official said the prisoners to be freed had not been involved in violent acts against Israelis, and almost all had completed two-thirds of their sentences.
Following Sunday's Cabinet decision, a list of the 500 prisoners to be released was to be published on an Israeli government Web site, and opponents will have 48 hours to lodge objections with the Supreme Court.
Israel agreed Saturday night to transfer security control of the West Bank city of Jericho to the Palestinian Authority, sources close to the talks between Israel's Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and Palestinian officials said. After Jericho it is likely that the cities of Tulkarem and Qalqilyah will be next in line for a hand-over, Haaretz reported.
Also Saturday evening, Hamas declared it was committed to the terms of the cease-fire agreed upon with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and those announced at the Sharm el-Sheikh summit last Tuesday.
Hamas said it would avoid violating the cease-fire and targeting settlements in the Gaza Strip, as it did on Thursday. It blamed Israel for the violence and said the shooting of mortars against Jewish settlements came in response to an Israeli killing of Palestinians.
