Over 250 Palestinian prisoners have been freed by Israel in the last month, the biggest such releases in two years which were intended to bolster president Mahmud Abbas.

The buses carrying handcuffed men from Israel's Ketziot prison in the Negev desert arrived at the Beitunya checkpoint at the entrance to the West Bank political capital of Ramallah.

The prisoners were then formally handed over to the Palestinian authorities before being driven to the Muqataa, the Palestinian Authority leadership compound, where Abbas was waiting to give them a heroes' welcome. This recent prisoner release was the biggest by Israel since 2005, when 500 Palestinians were freed in February and another 400 in June. Hundreds of wellwishers and relatives flocked to Beitunya, carrying the Palestinian flag, banners of Abbas's Fatah party and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.

"We have begun to free 256 prisoners, including six women," Ian Domnitz, a spokesman for the Israeli prisons authority, said at Ketziot as the buses pulled out under heavy guard.

"We are very happy to be freed today," one man said before boarding an armoured bus, its windows replaced by metal sheets. Six women prisoners were also being transferred to Beitunya from the Hasharon prison in Tel Aviv.

Israel agreed to release the 256 as part of a series of goodwill gestures designed to bolster Abbas in his struggle for power with the democratically elected Hamas, following the group's takeover of the Gaza Strip last month.