Israel may cancel the fourth and final stage of its release of 104 Palestinian terrorist prisoners if Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, pictured, refuses to commit to a yearlong extension of the current peace talks. Photo: World Economic Forum.

JNS.org – Israel may cancel the fourth and final stage of its release of 104 Palestinian terrorist prisoners if Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas refuses to commit to a yearlong extension of the current peace talks, Israel Hayom reported.

The fourth stage of the prisoner release is scheduled for the end of the month. The Palestinians have already published a list of the prisoners to be released. Among those on the list are Muhammad Jabarin, Yahya Agbaria, and Ibrahim Agbaria, arrested in 1992 for taking part in the “Night of the Pitchforks,” during which they murdered three Israeli soldiers. Also listed is Karim Younis, who murdered Israeli soldier Avraham Bromberg in 1981. No official list has been published by Israel.

Opposition to the fourth stage of the prisoner release is growing within the Israeli government. Habayit Hayehudi party ministers have expressed a strong stance against the release, and several ministers from the Likud party are echoing that sentiment.

Representatives of bereaved families and the Almagor Terror Victims Association met on Tuesday with Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni. Almagor head Meir Indor responded to the prisoner list published by the Palestinians by saying, “If what they published is true, it is a scandal, because we were promised by the [Israeli] High Court attorney that before the fourth stage happens, there would be an additional government meeting. By our count, there is no majority in favor of releasing murderers.”