Prisoner releases are a popular low-cost way for the State Department and the EU to pressure Israel: such "goodwill gestures" don't cost money, and what's the worst that can happen?

The two armed Palestinians who infiltrated a yeshiva in the West Bank settlement of Kfar Etzion on Thursday night, wounding three civilians, were recently released from an Israeli prison after serving time for criminal violations, Palestinian and Israeli security officials said Friday. The two terrorists Palestinians, later identified as Mohammad and Mahmoud Samarna, relatives from a West Bank village near Hebron, were freed several days ago. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. Defense officials are still examining how the two managed to infiltrate the guarded Kfar Etzion yeshiva. In a separate incident that occurred around the same time, Palestinian gunmen opened fire on the Border Police officers stationed at the Ras Hamis checkpoint near the Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem, killing a Border Police officer and wounding another. In the Kfar Etzion incident, the two assailants, armed with knives and a pistol, entered the library of the Mekor Haim yeshiva near Jerusalem and attacked students and counselors. One of the counselors, Rafael Singer, grabbed the pistol from the terrorist and shot the intruders, killing them both.

Maybe releasing the most hardline Palestinians to organize and incite against Israel isn't the best way to reduce tensions between the Israelis and the Palestinians. It's at least a theory worth considering.

The AFP headline on this, by the way, is "Two Palestinians Die In W Bank Settlement Attack". Because that's the salient detail that needs to be emphasized.

UPDATE: The gun that was grabbed from the terrorist was not the one used to make them dead.

References:
* Terrorists in yeshiva attack were recently released criminals [Ha'aretz]
* Officials:2 Palestinians Die In W Bank Settlement Attack -AFP [AFP]

Previously:
* Palestinians Going Global With Program To Demonize Israel For Deliberate, Hamas-Engineered Gaza Humanitarian Crisis (Updated: WaPo Hops On Board)
* AP's Ibrahim Barzak Publishes Least Subtle Anti-Isreal Bias Yet
* European Media Bias - Really?