One mother, Fatima Kaisi, said her 24-year-old son Mohammed had been sentenced to a 250-year sentence for his involvement in the radical militant group Islamic Jihad.

"I'm happy for the mothers who are getting their sons back today, but the leaders have to know that there are hundreds of mothers and families still waiting to meet with their loved ones," Kaisi said.

In Gaza, Israeli troops killed two Hamas militants on Monday in a nighttime gunbattle, Hamas announced. The Israeli military said troops shot two armed Palestinian militants who attacked troops inside Gaza not far from the Israeli border. One soldier was lightly wounded by gunfire, the military said.

As Israeli keeps up its military pressure on militants in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is slated to meet with Abbas on Wednesday. The two leaders are attempting to draft a joint vision of a peace deal that will be presented at a peace conference expected to be held in November in Annapolis, Maryland.

So far, the two sides haven't agreed on how specific the joint document should be. The Palestinians want a detailed framework agreement, while Israel wants a statement that is shorter and more vague.

"From now and until mid-November, the agenda should be clearly set out," Abbas said Sunday in Cairo, Egypt. "More than 36 countries will attend the conference and this big gathering requires us to go there with a definite document to pave the way later for the detailed negotiations (for) the final settlement."

Israeli officials have said the conference would at best point negotiators in the right direction, but not yield solutions to the "core" issues, such as division of the disputed city of Jerusalem and future borders.

Separately, Palestinian officials were drafting a proposed outline of a peace deal which was being circulated among Palestinian leaders for comment.

According to a copy obtained by The Associated Press, the Palestinians are ready to swap some land with Israel and limit the number of Palestinian refugees returning to their homes in the Jewish state, but also demand the return of all areas of Jerusalem captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war.

The draft sets several deadlines. After the signing of a framework agreement, a final peace deal should be reached within 13 months, it says, and all Israeli settlers should leave Palestinian territory within three years.

Israel is likely to object to such a timeline and the proposed division of Jerusalem.

1|2

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Enter your comments - 1000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos Respond to this email