In a gesture meant to signify support for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israel released 256 Palestinian prisoners Friday.
Most of the prisoners were members of Abbas' moderate Fatah movement -- one side of a polarized power struggle with the militant Hamas, which seized control of Gaza last month.
The prisoners leaned out of bus windows and waved Palestinian flags as they travelled from jail to Abbas' Ramallah headquarters in the West Bank where a celebration was planned and several thousand people awaited their return.
Israel and Fatah have found some rare common ground in their opposition to Hamas, and the relationship has grown stronger since the militant group used violence to take over Gaza last month, causing many Fatah loyalists to flee the territory in fear of their lives.
Israeli and Fatah officials both said they hoped the release of the prisoners signified a new, more co-operative phase in their relationship -- one that has been marked by violence over the past seven years.
Most of the 9,200 prisoners Israel still holds were captured during those seven years of fighting -- and their incarceration has been a major point of friction.
It is unclear whether more prisoners will be released, but many Palestinians hope the move is a sign of things to come, said CTV's Middle East Bureau Chief Janis Mackey Frayer.
"Palestinians are saying that this might be a good sign, that the ice has broken and perhaps there can be deals in the future to release some of the close to 10,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails," Mackey Frayer told Â鶹´«Ã½net from Ramallah.
"This is such an emotional issue for Palestinians. Every family it seems is affected by the prisoners issue -- they have a relative who's in jail, or a relative who served time and was able to get out, so this is something that really does touch the people. "
Israel has so far refused to free prisoners who are serving time for involvement in violence that wounded or killed Israelis, and none of those released Friday were involved in attacks against Israel.
Mackey Frayer said the prisoner release is part of Abbas' efforts to gain widespread support for Fatah among Palestinians.
"What we're seeing is a trifecta of sorts, with the prisoners being released, the promise of renewed negotiations, some money flowing into the West Bank and government employees being paid," she said.
"So what Mahmoud Abbas and his allies are really trying to do is create an atmosphere where they are able to say to Palestinians that moderates can achieve something from Israel, that Abbas deserves the support of Palestinians and (there is) almost a reward for Palestinians for sidelining Hamas given what Hamas did in Gaza last month."
Earlier this week, families of victims of Palestinian attacks attempted to block the release of the prisoners, but the Supreme Court denied the appeal.
Mark Regev, spokesperson for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, said the prisoners were released as part of a package of goodwill gestures designed to propel stalled peace talks.
"We're hopeful that the combined steps by the Israeli government and the Palestinian government can bring about a new period of cooperation and dialogue, that we have turned the corner on the negative dynamic," Regev said.
Abdel Rahim Malouh, 61, was one of the more prominent prisoners included in Friday's release. Malouh is the second in command of a small PLO group, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
That faction is responsible for the assassination of an Israeli cabinet minister in 2001, AP reports.
Fattan Darawme, another one of the freed prisoners, had been jailed for wanting to plant explosives near a Jewish settlement. She served nearly four years.
She told Â鶹´«Ã½ that she is proud of what she did and has no regrets.
"Every person has to protect their homeland," she said of the occupation, "I did my share."
Darawme added that she trusts Abbas and will follow him to either peace or war.
The prisoners freed on Friday had, on average, three years left on their sentences.
Critics saw the gesture as a small token that doesn't go far enough to mend old wounds between Israel and the Palestinians.
"Your policy is a policy of small change. You do a little here, a little there," Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot in an interview published Friday.
"Israel is a large, strong country. Israel can allow itself to be more bold," he said.
With a report from CTV's Middle East Bureau Chief Janis Mackey Frayer
