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Israel to free Hamas official arrested after Shalit's abduction

Israel Materials 20 May 2010 12:03 (UTC +04:00)
Israel Prisons Service was to release on Sunday a senior Hamas lawmaker arrested shortly after Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit was abducted in a cross-border raid from the Gaza Strip in 2006.
Israel to free Hamas official arrested after Shalit's abduction

Israel Prisons Service was to release on Sunday a senior Hamas lawmaker arrested shortly after Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit was abducted in a cross-border raid from the Gaza Strip in 2006, Haaretz reported.

Mahmoud Abu Tir was among 65 top Hamas officials and militants detained by Israeli security forces in the days after Shalit 's capture. They officials were convicted of belonging to an illegal organization.

Israel has so far released nine of the Hamas officials jailed after Shalit's abduction. Israeli defense officials said those ministers had just completed their prison terms and their release was not connected to a prisoner swap deal for Shalit's release.

Hamas won control of the Palestinian parliament in 2006 elections and then seized the Gaza Strip in 2007, leading to rival governments in the West Bank and Gaza.

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