Israel has agreed to release 540 Palestinian prisoners (arrested for suspected terrorist activity). More importantly, to the Palestinians, 210 of these will be members of Palestinian terrorist organizations. Releasing these prisoners is not part of the official "peace process," but the Palestinians have turned it into a major issue. The Palestinians accuse the Israelis of  arresting people and using them as hostages to obtain cooperation or good behavior from other family members. Palestinians and Lebanese Hizbollah are both threatening to start kidnapping Israeli soldiers and civilians in order to get their own people released.