Freed Palestinian prisoners who are allowed to return to their homes entered the West Bank Tuesday and headed towards the compound of Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for official reception.

The prisoners hailed the efforts of Egyptian authorities who brokered the swap deal between Israel and the Islamic Hamas movement of releasing the captured Israeli soldier Galid Shalit in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

"The deal is a gift for the whole world. I'm really thankful to the Egyptian authorities who played a great role in getting the deal into action," one freed prisoner who had been detained for nine years told the Egyptian Nile TV.

"My daughter was detained in 2005, and for a long time I lost the hope that she would be released," a released prisoner's father said, expressing appreciation for Hamas and Egyptian authorities.