Palestinian gunmen renounce attacks under Israeli amnesty deal

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israel has agreed to remove 178 Palestinian militants from its watch list after the armed fugitives signed a pledge renouncing attacks against Israel and accepted the principles of the group's new West Bank-based interim government.

The move is part of a plan by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to offer concessions to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas when they meet on Monday to discuss the political crisis that has split the Palestinian territories.

Abbas was left in control of just the West Bank after Hamas' violent takeover over in Gaza last month.

The list of men, drawn up by the Palestinians and approved by Israeli security officials, includes 150 members of Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a violent offshoot of Abbas' Fatah movement, Palestinian security sources said.

Zakaria Zubeidi, one of the group's top leaders, is among the militants on the list, according to Olmert's office.

Under the deal presented by Israel, the Al Aqsa gunmen would become members of the Palestinian security forces and would no longer be hunted by Israel as long as they refrain from violence for the next three months, The Associated Press reported. Each person on the list was asked to sign a non-violence pledge and handover his weapon to security forces, according to AP.

Amjad Halawi, who has been on the run from Israel for seven years, was one of the Fatah gunmen to sign the deal, AP reported.

"Every second, I thought they [Israeli troops] will either catch me or kill me," he said, according to AP.

Halawi, whose thick, black hair falls below his shoulders, told AP he was too afraid to come out of hiding -- even for a haircut.

"Abu Obeida, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, criticized Fatah for the pledge, saying its purpose was "to destroy the spirit of the resistance" and help Israel focus on Hamas militants, according to AP.

Plans to implement the deal are expected to be finalized when Olmert and Abbas meet, most likely in Jerusalem, Olmert's spokeswoman Miri Eisin said.

During Monday's meeting, Olmert will also present the Fatah leader with several measures to help advance the endorsement of the new West Bank-based Palestinian emergency government following the collapse of the Hamas-Fatah unity government and Hamas' takeover of Gaza, Eisin said.

One gesture grants permission for Palestine Liberation Organization Central Committee members and leaders to enter the occupied West Bank for a Wednesday meeting in Ramallah. The permission was requested by Abbas' office, Eisin said.

Notable figures granted passage include Nayef Hawatmeh, the Syrian-based founder and leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and Farouq Kadumi, the secretary of Fatah who has been an outspoken opponent of the Oslo peace accords.

Also expected to be on the agenda will be the release of 250 Palestinian prisoners -- many of whom are aligned with Fatah, according Olmert's office. That follows a week after Israel's cabinet approved the release of Palestinian prisoners who, according to Olmert, do not have "blood on their hands."

The meeting will be the first since a June 25 summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

President Bush sees "an opportunity" in Israeli-Palestinian relations and will comment on the subject Monday, said Stephen Hadley, Bush's national security adviser.

"He is going to reaffirm his commitment to the two-state solution for that issue, a democratic Palestine living side-by-side in peace and security with Israel," Hadley told CNN on Sunday.

"He is going to talk about the opportunity we have to advance that cause and the opportunities to support President Abbas and Prime Minister [Salam] Fayyad, the leader of the Palestinians, in their effort to establish a democratic, effective government that can provide security for the Palestinian people and the region," Hadley said. E-mail to a friend

CNN's Avivit Dalgoshen contributed to this report

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