BETUNIA (West Bank), Aug 6: Israel released more than 330 Palestinian prisoners on Wednesday in what it called a gesture to bolster the Middle East roadmap. Palestinian officials dismissed the move as a sham.

In another development, the Israeli army mounted an incursion into Jericho and arrested 18 Palestinian security officials.

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 broadly 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 for tearful reunions and embraces with relatives and friends.

A Jewish settler carrying a protest banner broke through a security cordon and ran at the buses carrying the detainees to freedom, but was wrestled to the ground by troops and hauled off.

Right-wing Israelis and relatives of victims of suicide bombings opposed the decision to begin freeing the Palestinians, though none of those released was directly involved in attacks.

“We hope this is a trust-building move that will help promote the (peace) process,” said Arnon Perlman, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Before their release, prisoners had to sign a pledge to “refrain from hostile activity” against the Jewish state.

JERICHO INCURSION: The prisoner release contrasted with the Israeli incursion into Jericho, with armoured personnel carriers advancing 500 metres into the downtown.