RAMALLAH, December 18, 2011 (WAFA) – Over 500 released Palestinian prisoners arrived in Ramallah Sunday evening and another 41 in Gaza, while two were sent to Jerusalem and two to Jordan.

Most of the prisoners who were released to the West Bank left Ofer military camp around 10 pm and traveled in buses straight to the presidential headquarters where their families and Palestinian officials were waiting for them.

The prisoners released to Gaza were taken to Karm Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) on the Egyptian-Israeli borders and from there they were taken to the Gaza Strip through Rafah.

With the release of the prisoners, the second and final phase of the swap deal reached between Hamas and Israel in October came to an end. A total of 1027 prisoners were released in this deal.

While the first group of 477 prisoners released in October included many who were serving several life sentences, the second group had only prisoners serving short sentences, the most was 18 years. Most had only few months left before they were going to be released.

M.S.