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    December 18, 2011

Israel Prepares to Free 550 Palestinian Prisoners

   VOA News
   Palestinian relatives of prisoner Younis Jahjouh decorate the street
   ahead of his release from Israeli prisons in the Qalandia refugee camp
   near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Dec 17, 2011. Photo: AP
   Palestinian relatives of prisoner Younis Jahjouh decorate the street
   ahead of his release from Israeli prisons in the Qalandia refugee camp
   near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Dec 17, 2011.

   Israel is set to release 550 Palestinian prisoners Sunday in the second
   stage of a deal with Hamas that brought home one Israeli soldier after
   five years of captivity in the Gaza Strip. A late evening release
   operation is planned.
   Israel released 477 Palestinians in October in exchange for Israeli
   army Sergeant Gilad Shalit in the first phase of the deal.
   The Israeli Prison Service says unlike the October operation, none of
   the prisoners in the second group has been convicted of killings. The
   prison service says nearly all the Palestinians to be freed come from
   the West Bank.
   Shalit was captured by Palestinian militants in a 2006 cross-border
   raid from Gaza into southern Israel.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
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