Egypt is going to repatriate all the Palestinians arrested following last month's border breach back to the Gaza Strip by the end of this week, a Hamas spokesman said on Tuesday.
Ayman Taha told the press that Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, presented a list of 115 prisoners to Egyptian officials who agreed to study their cases and release them.
According to the spokesman, a first group of 21 Palestinians were freed on Monday and another 10 detainees were released on Tuesday morning, who would arrive in Gaza through the sealed Rafah crossing point between Gaza and Egypt this afternoon. The remaining 94 detainees would be sent back to Gaza by the end of the week.
The detainees were arrested in Sinai for continuing to stay there despite the closure of the borders after nearly one week of opening.
Hamas militants blew up the borders between the Gaza Strip and Egypt to break a severe Israeli siege on Jan. 23 and allowed the Palestinians to cross freely into Egypt to stock up daily necessities.
Israel imposes a strict siege on Gaza Strip since last June when Hamas took over the area by force after ousting security forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Source: Xinhua
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