Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert pledged in a summit meeting Wednesday to free more than 150 Palestinian prisoners by the end of August as a “goodwill gesture” to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Olmert announced last week he is resigning because of multiple corruption investigations against him, but he says he is determined to press ahead with peace efforts as long as he is in office. Because of Israel’s complicated political system, his term could extend into next year.

Announcing the pledge after a meeting between the two leaders, Olmert spokesman Mark Regev did not say how many prisoners were to be freed or if jailed Palestinian uprising leader Marwan Barghouti would be among them.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who took part in the meeting at Olmert’s official residence, said it was agreed that over 150 prisoners would be freed on Aug. 25.

Erekat said Abbas specifically requested the release of Marwan Barghouti, jailed for life by Israel for involvement in deadly attacks on Israelis and Ahmed Saadat, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, who is in an Israeli prison after his group claimed responsibility for assassinating an Israeli Cabinet minister.

An Israeli official said Olmert refused to commit to those names.

Israel has repeatedly refused to release Barghouti, seen by many as a natural successor to Abbas, citing its long-held principle of not freeing prisoners with “blood on their hands” _ those directly involved in fatal attacks.

However it has made exceptions in the past, the latest just three weeks ago when it released Lebanese prisoner Samir Kantar, as part of a trade with the Hezbollah militia.

Kantar was convicted of killing an Israeli father, his daughter and a policeman.

Four captured Hezbollah fighters were also freed in the July trade for the bodies of two slain Israeli soldiers.

The concluding phase of the deal took place Wednesday, when Israel released five Palestinian teenagers from jail and sent them home to the West Bank.

By insisting on the release of at least some Palestinians, Hezbollah sought to bolster its standing beyond its core following of Shiite Muslims to the broader Arab world. Israel sought to minimize the concession by selecting five youths serving short sentences for throwing stones and other objects. They were due to be freed next year, according to data posted on the Prisons Authority Web site.

Wednesday’s meeting between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders was the first since Olmert announced he would step down after his party selects a new leader in September.

Olmert’s decision to leave office in the face of a string of corruption investigations into his past dealings as a Cabinet minister and Jerusalem mayor raised questions about prospects for Mideast peace. Even before his announcement last week, the sides had been backing away from their stated goal of signing a peace accord by year’s end.

Regev, Olmert’s spokesman, said after the talks with Abbas that the sides were still striving to meet the target they set at last November’s U.S.-sponsored peace conference in Annapolis, Md.

“We’re committed to moving forward, we’re committed to making the Annapolis process work,” he said. “I expect these meetings to continue.”

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Associated Press writers Mohammed Daragmeh in Ramallah and Ali Daragmeh in Tulkarem, West Bank, contributed to this report.