Terrorists released - and celebrated • "You're just the beginning"

After a series of High Court petitions and protests: 26 Palestinian terrorists, who were released from Israeli jails last night, as a gesture of the Government of Israel to the Palestinian Authority towards the renewal of diplomatic negotiations, were transferred last night to PA areas of Judea and Samaria and the Gaza Strip.

The prisoners were assembled over the last day in the Ayalon Prison compound, a facility of the IPS in Ramle, where they were moved yesterday from various prisons in the country, and subsequently left the Ayalon Prison, and reached the Bitonia crossing and Erez checkpoint in the Gaza Strip - from where, a little after 1:00 at night, they were released to PA territories and Gaza .

The terrorists were taken in vans with closed windows in order to prevent them from waving 'V' as a sign of victory at discharge. One convoy in which 14 terrorists made its way to the Erez checkpoint, and another 12 were taken to the Bitonia crossing. Several hundred Palestinians welcomed the terrorists at the checkpoint.

This gesture on the part of Israel is the step which actually opens political negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, which begin today.

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has welcomed the terrorists at the local government compound in Ramallah, with a crowd of thousands of people who came to cheer in front of him. Mahmoud Abbas said: "We congratulate our brothers who went from the darkness of the prison to the light of freedom and tell them that they are the first, you are just beginning, but there are other brothers to come out too soon. We will not stop until everyone will be with us. I welcome the freed prisoners and tell them we'll meet in Jerusalem. "

After a meeting with the Chairman of the Authority, the terrorists were released to their homes, along with their families.

Alongside the 12 terrorists who were released to Ramallah, 14 others were released through the Erez checkpoint in the Gaza Strip. However, to play down the achievement of Abbas with Israel, Hamas banned the celebrations in honor of the released prisoners.

Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon explained that the decision is "heavy" both for members of the government and for him personally. "Part of the terrorists I know, some of them I arrested when I was the commander of the Judea and Samaria battalion in the early nineties. It certainly feels heavy, especially for the bereaved families. My heart feels for them. There is a set of considerations facing the Israeli Prime Minister and Minister of Israel, and in view of the overall considerations we came to this decision with a heavy heart to release them. If any of them will return to his old ways, he will return to prison to serve his sentence. "

The one who tried to stop the release was Housing Minister Uri Ariel. He said: "We were told at a cabinet meeting that all terrorists who are released now, murdered before the Oslo Accords., But it turns out that the truth is not so. Therefore, I demand to stop the release and return the issue for renegotiating by the government."

But as said, trying to stop the terrorists was to no avail.

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!