Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below. Just click on the icons to get to the download page. The hostage-prisoner exchange is part of a fragile ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that took effect last Sunday, and which is intended to pave the way to a permanent end to the war.
As part of the exchange, the second since the truce took effect last Sunday, four freed Israeli women hostages, all soldiers, arrived home in Israel after more than 15 months of captivity in Gaza. In exchange, Israel's prison service confirmed that prisoners, whom it called "terrorists", were freed.
Masked and armed militants flanked them during a slick ceremony watched by hundreds of residents. In Tel Aviv, where a crowd gathered to watch their release on a large TV screen at a plaza known as Hostage Square, there were tears of joy, applause and a loud cheer as Israeli flags waved. After their handover to the Red Cross, Israel's military said the women were transferred back into Israel and "reunited with their parents".
They were later taken by military helicopter to the Rabin Medical Centre, where they would receive "comprehensive medical care, including psychological support", according to Israel's health ministry. Buses carrying the released Palestinians left Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank and Ktziot prison in the Negev desert.
As dozens of the former prisoners reached the West Bank city of Ramallah, crowds of Palestinians erupted in joy, raising many of them onto their shoulders, an AFP journalist said. The Palestinian Prisoners Club advocacy group said among those to be released was Mohammed al-Tous, 69, who has spent the longest continuous period in Israeli detention. Bassem Naim of the Hamas political bureau had told AFP on Friday that Palestinians displaced by the war to southern Gaza should have been able to begin returning to the north following Saturday's releases.
