CAIRO, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- A group of 154 Palestinian prisoners who were released and deported by Israeli authorities on Monday arrived in Egypt, according to Egyptian sources.

The anonymous sources confirmed to the Xinhua that the prisoners, who were freed as part of a prisoner-hostage swap deal, crossed into Egypt from the Gaza Strip via the Rafah border crossing.

Following their arrival, the Palestinian deportees were taken to Nasser Hospital in Cairo, the sources said, adding that preparations are now underway to facilitate their onward travel and deportation to several agreed-upon destinations, including Qatar, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates, Tunisia, and Malaysia.

The recently reached ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas stipulates the return of the last 20 surviving hostages from Gaza to Israel and the release of about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.

Hamas announced earlier in the day that it had handed over all 20 of the remaining live hostages, who had been captured during the attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Israel conditions the deportation of what it labels as high-profile prisoners to third-party nations, citing concerns over future security threats. ■