Israel released more than 300 Palestinian prisoners today in what it called a gesture to bolster a US-backed peace plan.
But Palestinian officials have dismissed the move as a sham.
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Palestinians celebrate as they arrive at the army prison at Megiddo in northern Israel, prior to their release later today Photograph: Getty Images
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The first prisoner freed flashed a V-for-victory sign at cheering relatives waiting at a checkpoint outside the West Bank town of Betunia and smiled as he stepped off a bus that brought him from an Israeli jail.
Others kissed the ground, watched closely by armed Israeli soldiers, before boarding Palestinian vans for the trip home.
A Jewish settler broke through a security cordon and ran at the buses carrying the Palestinian prisoners but was wrestled to the ground by troops and taken away.
Right-wing Israelis and relatives of victims of Palestinian suicide bombings and shootings oppose the government's decision to begin freeing the Palestinians though none of those released was directly involved in attacks.
Palestinians, who regard the prisoners as heroes of their nationalist cause, said the release did not go far enough and demanded amnesty for all 6,000 detainees in Israeli jails.
Human rights groups have condemned Israel for holding many Palestinians without trial since the start of a 34-month-old uprising for independence.
The dispute over prisoner releases led Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas to pull out of talks set for today with his Israeli counterpart, Mr Ariel Sharon, on a "road map" aimed at ending three years of violence and creating a Palestinian state by 2005.
Before their release, prisoners were required to sign a document pledging that they would "refrain from hostile activity" against Israel.
But Hamad al-Smairi, a member of Islamic Jihad and one of several dozen militants freed, said he would feel no compulsion to abide by that promise.