Israel orders release of some detained Hamas officials
Military court orders release of several group officials detained following Gilad Shalit's kidnapping in Gaza in June; MK El-Sana: 'Court decision is slap in face to government’s arrogant policies'
An Israeli military judge at the Ofer Military Court on Tuesday ordered the release on bail of 18 Gaza officials detained in an IDF dragnet in July after a Cpl. Gilad Shalit was abducted by Gaza gunmen, an army spokesman said.
Implementation of the Ofer judge’s decision was deferred until Thursday so prosecutors could appeal.
"The judge has made a decision, and it now comes down to which detainees will be released," the army spokesman said.
"The release has also been postponed for 48 hours so last challenges can be heard. If there is a successful appeal, the release could be halted," he said.
Among those slated for release are Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council Dr. Aziz Dweik and senior Hamas official Mahmoud Abu-Tir.
MK El-Sana: Ruling slap in face to government
MK Taleb El-Sana, a lawyer by profession, voluntarily represented the Hamas officials. After the court hearing, El-Sana told Ynet, “The court criticized the government and said that it was illegal for the government to arrest them in the first place. They challenged and they won. They were never told not to challenge."
According to El-Sana, “The decision is a slap in the face to the government’s arrogant policies. Any attempt to give a cloak of legality to the detention of the elected Palestinian leadership was cynical and transparent. The Israeli government adopted the same rules of the game used by Shalit’s kidnappers. The whole aim was to produce a balance of deterrence, which failed.”
The court ruled that the detainees would be freed on NIS 15,000 to 25,000 bail. Senior political officials in the West Bank, including Fatah leader Ziad Abu-Ein, confirmed Tuesday afternoon to reporters that Israel would release 18 Hamas members.
Bargaining chip?
Some 60 senior political officials, Hamas lawmakers, parliament members and others from the West Bank and East Jerusalem were arrested in a lightening raid at the end of July following Shalit’s kidnapping.
Israel said the detainees were suspected of offenses linked to Hamas' role in spearheading a 6-year-old Palestinian revolt. But Palestinians accused Israel of gathering "bargaining chips" to force Shalit's release.
The decision was surrounded by questions, and the move could in fact be linked to a deal for Shalit’s release. Hamas set the release of the officials as one of the preconditions for the establishment of a coalition government, which Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and President Mahmoud Abbas finalized Monday.
Ali Waked, Efrat Weiss and news agencies contributed to the report
