Israel overnight Tuesday released 26 Palestinian prisoners convicted of terror-related crimes, the third of four such gestures designed to boost U.S.-backed peace talks.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had been explicit with Secretary of State John Kerry last spring that the Palestinians would not sit down for peace talks without a broad prisoner release, with Palestinian media earlier this year described Abbas’s position:

President Mahmoud Abbas has insisted that 107 Palestinians detained before the Oslo agreement must be released before the PLO will return to negotiations with Israel.

Subsequent requests to Israeli leaders to meet the demand proved controversial for Kerry, though the releases were eventually agreed to by Israel’s cabinet.

Domestic controversy inside Israel has escalated with each round of releases. Critics worry that Palestinian leaders are gearing up to pocket the four releases and then incite a wave of violence against Israel, hoping to extract further concessions away from the negotiating table. Continued Palestinian threats to walk away from the talks, coupled with ongoing incitement, have deepened such concerns.

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