Palestinian Authority media, controlled by "moderate" PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, has hailed the release of Samir Kuntar, saying the man who crushed the skull of four-year-old Einat Haran in 1979 "epitomizes the ideal Palestinian prisoner."

State-run PATV, controlled by Abbas, broadcast a photograph honoring Kuntar against a background of a map of Israel completely covered by the Palestinian flag.