Mr Olmert had pledged to free prisoners of Abbas's Fatah movement in a June 25 summit with the Palestinian leader as part of a Western campaign to bolster the new administration he named after sacking a unity government with Hamas Islamists.

Miri Eisin, a spokeswoman for Mr Olmert, said the ministerial meeting for a weekly session would likely approve the motion to free the prisoners.

Once a roster is approved, it could still take days before any prisoners are freed since Israel would allow 48 hours for the releases to be challenged in petitions to the country's high court, Ms Eisin said.

The United States and European Union have been prodding Mr Olmert to nurture contacts with Mr Abbas's emergency government in the hope it can lead to a resumption of contacts towards resuming long-stalled peace talks.