PHOTOS: Released Palestinian prisoners arrive home to West Bank

Israel released 26 Palestinian prisoners early Wednesday morning – 15 to Gaza and 11 to the West Bank – as part of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, hours before the first official meeting between the two sides.

The Palestinian prisoners released to the West Bank arrived at Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s presidential compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where their families waited for hours to receive their released relatives.

PHOTOS: Released Palestinian prisoners arrive home to West Bank
Palestinians await the arrival of 11 Palestinian prisoners, at President Mahmoud Abbas’s presidential compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah, August 14. (Photo:Oren Ziv/ Activestills)
PHOTOS: Released Palestinian prisoners arrive home to West Bank
Palestinian women dance and sing as they await the arrival of 11 Palestinian prisoners, at the presidential compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah, August 14. (Photo:Yotam Ronen/ Activestills)
PHOTOS: Released Palestinian prisoners arrive home to West Bank
Palestinian women hold photos of prisoners as they await the arrival of 11 Palestinian prisoners, at the presidential compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah, August 14. (Photo: Oren Ziv/ Activestills)
PHOTOS: Released Palestinian prisoners arrive home to West Bank
Palestinian women dance and sing as they await the arrival of 11 Palestinian prisoners, at the Palestinian presidential compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah, August 14. (Photo: Oren Ziv/ Activestills)
PHOTOS: Released Palestinian prisoners arrive home to West Bank
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas delivers a speech to released Palestinian prisoners, at his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, August 14. (Photo: Yotam Ronen/ Activestills)
PHOTOS: Released Palestinian prisoners arrive home to West Bank
Palestinian prisoners freed from Israeli detention are greeted at the Palestinian presidential compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah, August 14, 2013. Israel released 26 Palestinian prisoners. Fifteen were released to Gaza and 11 to West Bank, as part of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. (Photo: Oren Ziv/ Activestills)
PHOTOS: Released Palestinian prisoners arrive home to West Bank
Palestinians carry on their shoulders.Palestinian prisoner Asmat Mansor, after he was freed from Israeli detention, Ramallah, August 14, 2013. (Oren Ziv/ Actviestills)
PHOTOS: Released Palestinian prisoners arrive home to West Bank
A Palestinian woman greets her relative that was just released from prison, as he arrives to the Palestinian presidential compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah, August 14, 2013. (Tali Mayer/ Activestills)
PHOTOS: Released Palestinian prisoners arrive home to West Bank
Palestinian prisoners freed from Israeli detention are greeted in the Palestinian presidential compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah, August 14, 2013. (Photo: Oren Ziv/ Activestills)
PHOTOS: Released Palestinian prisoners arrive home to West Bank
A rally celebrating the release of Palestinian prisoners in the West Bank city of Nablus on August 14, 2013. (Photo: Ahmad Al Bazz/ Activestills)
PHOTOS: Released Palestinian prisoners arrive home to West Bank
Palestinian celebrate the release of Husni Sawallha near his house in the West Bank village of Azmut, August 14, 2013 (Ahmad Al Bazz/ Activestills)
PHOTOS: Released Palestinian prisoners arrive home to West Bank
Relatives of Husni Sawallha greet him as he arrives to his home in the West Bank village of Azmut after 23 years in Israel prison, on August 14, 2013. (Photo: Ahmad Al Bazz/ Activestills)

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TEST TEST GAL Our team has been devastated by the horrific events of this latest war. The world is reeling from Israel’s unprecedented onslaught on Gaza, inflicting mass devastation and death upon besieged Palestinians, as well as the atrocious attack and kidnappings by Hamas in Israel on October 7. Our hearts are with all the people and communities facing this violence.    We are in an extraordinarily dangerous era in Israel-Palestine. The bloodshed has reached extreme levels of brutality and threatens to engulf the entire region. Emboldened settlers in the West Bank, backed by the army, are seizing the opportunity to intensify their attacks on Palestinians. The most far-right government in Israel’s history is ramping up its policing of dissent, using the cover of war to silence Palestinian citizens and left-wing Jews who object to its policies.   This escalation has a very clear context, one that +972 has spent the past 14 years covering: Israeli society’s growing racism and militarism, entrenched occupation and apartheid, and a normalized siege on Gaza.   We are well positioned to cover this perilous moment – but we need your help to do it. This terrible period will challenge the humanity of all of those working for a better future in this land. Palestinians and Israelis are already organizing and strategizing to put up the fight of their lives.   Can we count on your support? +972 Magazine is a leading media voice of this movement, a desperately needed platform where Palestinian and Israeli journalists, activists, and thinkers can report on and analyze what is happening, guided by humanism, equality, and justice. Join us.

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