Israeli authorities on Wednesday released Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister Naser al-Shaer, who was among Hamas officials detained after Gazan gunmen abducted an Israeli soldier.
”I should have been free from first moment, but I don’t know why now,” Shaer told Reuters in English as he crossed from Israel into the occupied West Bank.
”Anyway, there is no reason at all for arresting me or any others from the Palestinian government.”
Israeli officials had no immediate comment on the release. Shaer’s lawyer, Osama al-Saadi, said a military tribunal had determined there was not enough evidence to keep Shaer jailed.
Israeli forces seized Shaer at his house on August 19.
He had not been at home, and was put on Israel’s wanted list in late June when dozens of Hamas lawmakers and a number of Cabinet ministers were detained after Palestinian gunmen captured an Israeli soldier, Corporal Gilad Shalit, near Gaza.
Thirty-one Hamas legislators are still in Israeli custody.
On Monday, a military court in the West Bank reversed a decision to release 21 of them on bail, ordering the men held in detention until the end of judicial proceedings against them.
The military prosecution has charged the 21 Hamas members with belonging to a ”terrorist group” and posing a security threat against Israel. Hamas, which came to power in a Palestinian election in January, advocates Israel’s destruction.
There had been widespread speculation the legislators could be freed as part of a future deal for Shalit’s release.
Al-Shaer said he would spend a few days with his family in the West Bank city of Ramallah before returning to his duties. — Reuters