Israel freeing 87 jailed Palestinians to aid Abbas

The prisoners, all members of Abbas's embattled Fatah or smaller secular factions, will be bussed out of the desert stockade of Kitsyot by 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) to Israel's boundaries with the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the Prisons Service told Reuters.

The freeing of prisoners is highly emotive for Palestinians, who see their nearly 11,000 brethren held in Israeli jails as fighters for freedom from Israeli occupation. Many Israelis say such amnesties encourage violence by Palestinian militants.