Israeli defense establishment has decided to release some 150 Palestinian prisoners to ease overcrowding in its prisons, the local newspaper Ha'aretz reported Tuesday.

Israeli Defense sources said the release, which will start nextweek, was not meant as a goodwill gesture toward the Palestinian National Authority but rather to relieve overcrowding in the prisons.

The discussions about the release began last month, and Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz is expected to give his final approval this week, according to the sources.

The 150 selected Palestinian prisoners are all nearing the end of their prison terms, and most would have been released by the end of this year, said the report, adding most of these prisoners were convicted of relatively minor crimes, such as stone throwing.

    The defense establishment has been perturbed by the problem of overcrowding in the prisons. Since the beginning of this year alone, more than 2,500 Palestinians have been arrested in the West Bank.

Source: Xinhua