Forty Palestinians were released from a Israeli jail today and allowed back into the West Bank.
The 40 were released from Megiddo military jail, just north of the West Bank, and held at Salem checkpoint for several hours before being allowed back into the Palestinian territory.
Among the group, 38 of them were workers who were handed short prison terms for entering Israel without a permit and refused or could not pay the fine.
The two other Palestinians released had been detained for what Israel said were security reasons, and their sentences expired today.
Israel released some 70 Palestinian administrative detainees yesterday, as a gesture of goodwill coinciding with the visit of US Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell.
But Palestinian officials said the measure was insufficient and Palestinian prime minister Mahmud Abbas insisted in his joint press conference with Mr Powell in Jericho that "thousands" of Palestinian prisoners should be released.
Some 3,500 Palestinians are in military jails, many of them without trial, and a similar number are held in other prisons and detention camps in the Palestinian territories.
AFP