With the first moments of the day, the Palestinians began the
preparations to receive the released prisoners, Hundreds of thousands of
Palestinians took to the streets holding flags and pictures of the prisoners, to welcome them home and express their happiness for the success of the
swap deal.

At Rafah border crossing, thousands of Palestinians gathered
waiting for the released prisoners to come from Egypt after completing
the process of the exchange and deliver the Israeli soldier Shalit to Israel.

*”After all these years, I can not believe I am going home, thank
God for everything”*, a Palestinian prisoner told the Egyptian television.

*”I am waiting for this moment for more than 30 years, I will be
able to touch and hug my son again, finally my son will see his grand
daughter”*, the mother of Saleem AL-kyali who was sentenced to life in
the Israeli prison said.

Jehad Aqel _ Son of the Palestinian prisoner Khamis Aqel_ *”These
are the happiest moments in my life, it is very hard to express my feelings
now”*.

Meanwhile more than 200,000 people rallied in Al-katiba square
in Gaza city to welcome the prisoners, Gaza Prime Minister Ismail
Haniyeh, hailed the prisoners describing them as heroes of freedom.

In West Bank, the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas greeted
the huge crowds at his compound and described the prisoners as freedom
fighters. He said *”You fought and sacrificed, be sure your efforts and
sacrifices were not in vein, you will see the results of your sacrifices in an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.”*

He added, *”We will work hard to release the rest of you, for that
we made an agreement with the Israeli government to release another
group of prisoners”*.

A spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees said: *”All
the organizations and the parties have agreed to be unified today in
welcoming the prisoners, in order to receive them like heroes with official
and popular celebrations”*.

It is worth mentioning that this phase is the first phase of the
prisoners swap deal. The second phase will begin after two months and it
will see the release of 550 Palestinian prisoners.