Israel on Aug. 25 freed nearly 200 Palestinian prisoners, including Said al-Atba, a militant mastermind who had been jailed for three decades, in a confidence-building measure aimed at breathing new life into slow-moving Mideast peace talks.

The prisoner release was not part of a larger peace deal. Instead, it was meant to bolster the moderate President Mahmoud Abbas in his struggle against the militant Islamic Hamas, which overran Gaza last year and is threatening his position in the West Bank.