Families of terror victims protest in Tel Aviv. Photo: Orit Zehavi, Tazpit News Agency.

Israel is close to officially approving the release of an additional 250 Arab convicts as a part of the current ongoing peace talks with the Palestinian Authority, sources defined as “credible” told the London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat on Wednesday.

As a precursor to starting the peace talks, Israel agreed to release 104 prisoners, and the first 26 were freed last month. The second phase is scheduled for the end of October and the fourth and final release is expected to take place on March 28, Israel’s Ynet reported.

Families of the victims of the released prisoners, many of them violent murderers, have objected strongly to this gesture.