Olmert to Release Terrorists as Terror War Proceeds Apace

Diplomatic correspondents are hinting that this release is only a "first installment," and that another group of terrorist convicts will be released during the Annapolis summit.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will ask the cabinet to approve the release of some 500 Palestinian Authority terrorists in the Sunday cabinet meeting. The move comes in advance of the Middle East summit to be hosted by the U.S. in Annapolis later in November.



The number of terrorists to be freed is higher by 100 prisoners than figures quoted last week, but falls short of the 2,000 names handed to Israel by the "Palestinian Authority." However, Israeli diplomatic correspondents are hinting that this release is only a "first installment," and that another group of terrorist convicts will be released during the Annapolis summit.



Meanwhile, the terror war against Israel from Gaza is proceeding apace, and the rate of attacks on Jews in Judea and Samaria os intensifying.

One rocket hits, five cars burn

The quiet of the Sabbath morning was destroyed early Saturday by the Color Red siren alerting the community to an imminent rocket attack. Explosions from two Kassam rockets launched from northern Gaza soon followed.

The first rocket struck a street in a hareidi-religious neighborhood of Sderot in the hours before dawn and set ablaze five cars. Fire fighters were alerted but by the time they managed to put the flames out, all five cars had been completely burnt. One woman was sent into shock by the explosion. Moshe Amar, the spokesman for the Lachish Fire Brigade, said: "We have never seen a 'Kassam' hit that caused such damage."

Another rocket was fired at a western Negev kibbutz. No one was wounded but some damage was reported.



Gaza terrorists fired four mortars shells at Israel Saturday evening. The IDF said that three of the shells hit open areas north of Gaza. No one was hurt and no damage was caused.



Judea and Samaria: bombs and rocks

Two women, one of whom is pregnant, were lightly wounded in a rock attack west of Ramallah Friday, just before the Sabbath.



PA Arabs hurled rocks at Israeli vehicles as they drove through Samaria Saturday night on the road northeast of the PA-controlled city of Ramallah. No one was injured.



IDF soldiers arrested two Arab youths at the Hawara checkpoint south of Shechem, after finding a pipe bomb and three Molotov cocktails in their belongings. A bomb squad disposed of the explosives in a controlled detonation.

Also tonight:



• Arabs fired shots at an IDF force in Kabatya, south of Jenin.

• At the Ein Beit Ilma neighborhood in Shechem, Arabs deployed an explosive charge and fired shots at IDF soldiers.

• A fugitive terrorist was arrested at a-Dik east of Kalkilya in Samaria. Parts of weapons were found in his car.

• Arabs threw rocks at an IDF force in Beit Fajar, in Gush Etzion.

• Arabs threw a fire bomb at an Israeli vehicle near Beit Hagai in Mount Hevron. Soldiers searching the area found what appeared to be a bomb and closed the road to traffic. The bomb was found to be a dummy, and the road was reopened.

No casualties were reported in any of Saturday night's incidents.