Israel's security cabinet has approved a plan to release 900 Palestinian prisoners and withdraw troops from the Palestinian town of Jericho. The plan calls for Israel to free 500 Palestinians after next week's Israeli-Palestinian summit, and 400 others over the next three months. About 8,000 Palestinians are in Israeli custody. Both sides say they hope to reach agreement at the Cairo summit on a formal truce ending more than four years of violence. Meanwhile, Palestinian gunmen interrupted a two-week old de facto truce today (Thursday) with an attack on an Israeli military vehicle that wounded an Israeli soldier in the occupied Gaza Strip. Witnesses said Israeli soldiers returned fire and killed one Palestinian gunman. The attack came despite renewed efforts by the Palestinian Authority to stop militants from attacking Israeli targets. It was not immediately clear what, if any, effect it would have on summit plans.
