Israel released 26 Palestinian prisoners Wednesday as part of an interim agreement and a goodwill gesture to mark the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

After being freed from prisons near two southwestern Israeli towns, the Palestinians were transported by buses to military checkpoints near the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, where they were greeted by family members and friends.

The release went ahead after Israel's High Court of Justice Wednesday rejected a petition filed by the Terror Victims Association, which opposed the release of prisoners and especially the inclusion of two Palestinians involved in the killings of an Israeli taxi-driver and two tourists from Italy.

This was the third and the last group of Palestinian prisoners to be released under the Sharm el Sheikh agreement signed in September. Israel has freed 350 Palestinians held for anti-Israel activities in the first two batches as called upon by the agreement.