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Tieng Anh Vui
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas greeted the released prisoners, as Yolande Knell reports
The first direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in three years are set to begin in Jerusalem.
Few details have been released about the location, timing or agenda of the talks and both sides have been cautious about achieving any breakthrough.
Overnight, Israel freed 26 Palestinian prisoners as part of the deal to restart negotiations.
Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem continue to overshadow the resumption.
The issue halted the last direct talks in September 2010 and Palestinian representatives have accused Israel of trying to sabotage the latest negotiations.
Israeli-Palestinian talks
- Palestinian team leaders: Saeb Erekat and Muhammed Shtayyeh
- Israeli team leaders: Tzipi Livni and Isaac Molcho
- US mediators: Martin Indyk and Frank Lowenstein
- Key issues: Status of Jerusalem; borders; security arrangements; settlements and possible land swaps; Palestinian refugees; recognition of Israel
In recent days Israel has announced plans for more than 2,000 new settlement homes.
Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) official Yasser Abed Rabbo said the settlement expansion was "unprecedented".
"The talks might collapse any time because of the Israeli practices," he told Voice of Palestine radio.
There has also been scepticism on the Israeli side.
The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday reported "extremely low" expectations about the latest talks.
It quoted Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon as saying: "We've been trying for 20 years since Oslo, and for over 120 years of the conflict. The scepticism in the tone of my remarks is apparent, but we've decided to give it a chance."
However, Science and Technology Minister Yaakov Peri said an effort had to be made, adding: "We won't have a lot more chances to solve this conflict."
'First course'
The talks are expected to be held under a media blackout.
Their aim is to negotiate an end to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict based on the so-called two-state solution - a Palestinian state existing alongside Israel.
At the scene
After hours of waiting near the Erez checkpoint between Israel and Gaza, there was an emotional outpouring from the large crowd as the 15 Palestinians released from Israeli jails arrived here. The bus carrying the men struggled to make its way forward. There were fireworks and celebratory gun shots were fired into the air.
Despite the deep political dispute between Hamas, which governs Gaza, and the Fatah movement of the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, flags for the two factions fluttered side-by-side.
Most of the former detainees brought to Gaza belong to Fatah. Only one belongs to Hamas, which has strongly rejected the deal to resume peace talks with Israel.
The sister of one man who spent a quarter of a century in an Israeli prison cried as she told me: "Thanks to Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas]. He's introduced joy to all our hearts today."
Hamas welcomed their release but spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told the BBC it was a cheap deal if Mr Abbas wanted to sell rights and Palestinian land to Israel in return.
The Palestinians are being represented by Saeb Erekat and Fatah official Muhammed Shtayyeh.
Israeli Minister of Justice Tzipi Livni and prime ministerial aide Isaac Molcho will represent the Israeli side.
US Middle East Peace Envoy Martin Indyk and his deputy, Frank Lowenstein, have been named as envoys to the meeting.
Although the agenda has not been publicised, US Secretary of State John Kerry has previously said that all final-status issues - Jerusalem, borders, security arrangements, settlements and Palestinian refugees - will be on the table.
Although no timeframe for these talks has been set, the US has said that final-status negotiations will be held for nine months.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has indicated that Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state will be among the first issues, whereas the Palestinians have said borders and security top the agenda.
The Palestinians want their state to include land captured by Israel in 1967, but some 500,000 Israelis now live in settlements built on the occupied territories.
The settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.
On Wednesday, Israeli Housing Minister Uri Ariel vowed to build "thousands of homes" in the West Bank, adding: "This is just the first course."
On Monday, Mr Kerry urged the Palestinians "not to react adversely" to the settlement announcements, saying US opposition had been "communicated... very clearly to Israel".
Gaza air strikes
The issue of the Palestinian prisoner releases has been highly emotive for Israelis.
Kevin Connolly speaks to the brother of a murdered Israeli, and a former Palestinian prisoner
Mr Peri said the releases were "part of the price of pursuing peace with our neighbours".
He said: "The ramifications of not returning to the negotiating table are dozens of times weightier than releasing the prisoners."
However, Deputy Defence Minister Danny Danon has said the releases are a moral mistake.
An appeal by a victims' rights group that objected to all the releases was rejected by the Supreme Court.
But as the two buses carrying the first tranche of 26 Palestinians left Ayalon prison near Tel Aviv late on Tuesday, relatives of their victims, many with their hands painted red, jeered and briefly tried to block the road.
Israel has agreed to free a further 78 long-serving prisoners as part of the deal to revive the peace process. The releases will take place in four tranches over a period of nine months, depending on progress in the talks.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas greeted 11 prisoners as they arrived in the West Bank early on Wednesday, while crowds met the other 15 in Gaza.
The BBC's Yolande Knell says there was a festive atmosphere in the West Bank village of Beitunia.
The freed inmates were driven to the Muqataa presidential compound in Ramallah, where they were kissed and embraced by President Abbas.
In a speech, he said he would not rest "until we free all the prisoners from Israeli jails".
In the northern Gaza Strip, hundreds of people gathered at the Palestinian side of the Erez crossing. Fireworks lit the night sky, as supporters of the rival Hamas and Fatah factions made victory signs and waved flags.
A mother of one of the released prisoners, Atta Abu Mussa, told AFP news agency: "I didn't see my son Atya for eight years, I thought I was going to die before I saw him again. I am so happy."
In a separate development on Wednesday, the Israeli military said it had carried out air strikes on rocket-launching sites in northern Gaza.
The strikes were launched overnight in response to the firing of two rockets from Gaza towards the Israeli town of Sderot, the military added.
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