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Summary Israel freed 550 prisoners, completing the deal which saw an Israeli soldier freed in October.
Israel on Sunday freed 550 Palestinian prisoners, completing the second phase of a deal which saw Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit freed in October, Israeli and Palestinian officials said.Officials and witnesses in the West Bank city of Ramallah said that the main contingent of freed prisoners entered the city on a fleet of 12 buses at around 10:00 pm (2000 GMT), where thousands of well-wishers awaited them at the Palestinian presidential headquarters.A small group of 41 crossed at about the same time into the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, where about 3,000 jubilant supporters gathered at the border, an AFP photographer said.An Israeli prison official said that another two were taken to the border with neighbouring Jordan and two more were released at Atarot in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.The International Red Cross Committee assisted in the process of conveying the prisoners, the Israeli military said in a statement.It confirmed that 505 prisoners were transferred to the West Bank and 41 to the Gaza Strip with the remaining four taken to Jordan and east Jerusalem.One of the Jerusalem residents freed was Salah Hamuri, a French-Palestinian who was convicted of plotting to assassinate a Jewish religious leader and had been due to complete his seven-year sentence in March.Among the 550 were six women and 55 minors aged 14-17, according to UN childrens rights agency UNICEF, which welcomed the youngsters release.Unlike in the first stage of the deal, which saw the release in October of 477 Palestinians including hundreds serving life for killing Israelis, Sundays operation did not include anyone with blood on their hands, officials on both sides said.
