JERUSALEM — Israel freed the most senior Hamas leader in its prisons Tuesday after prosecutors failed to persuade a military court to prolong his three-year sentence.
The release of Abdel Aziz Duaik, speaker of the Palestinian Authority parliament, fed speculation that Israel was on the verge of a deal to secure the return of a captured soldier in exchange for hundreds of Hamas prisoners. Such a swap has been the aim of sporadic negotiations mediated by Egypt, but Israeli and Hamas officials said they had no information about a breakthrough.
Israel arrested dozens of mayors, legislators and other elected officials from Hamas in the West Bank after the capture of the soldier, Sgt. Gilad Schalit, three years ago this week. Most have been charged with nothing more than membership in the militant Islamic group, which views them as hostages that Israel would trade for the 22-year-old sergeant.
Last week, an Israeli military prosecutor sought to have Duaik held beyond his sentence because of his prominence in Hamas, which Israel considers a terrorist organization. The court rejected the argument, saying it was the 60-year-old Pennsylvania-trained architect’s academic credentials and political skills, not his Hamas affiliation, that earned him the parliament’s top job. It also cited his diabetes and high blood pressure as grounds for letting him go.
His freedom could help energize efforts by Palestinians to heal a rift between Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, and the Fatah movement that dominates the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority. Hamas ejected Fatah’s forces from Gaza in bloody factional fighting in June 2007, and many Palestinians say the split has undermined their leaders’ ability to negotiate peace with Israel and achieve independent statehood.
Since Schalit’s capture along the border by Gaza militants, Israel has severely restricted the entry of goods into the coastal strip. The blockade, joined by Egypt after Hamas seized full control of Gaza, has isolated the seaside enclave and deepened its poverty.
Hundreds of Israelis protesting Schalit’s captivity temporarily blocked three border crossings Tuesday, halting deliveries of food and humanitarian supplies that the Israeli government allows to reach the 1 million Gazans on U.N. relief rolls.
