Israeli Court Orders Hamas Officials Released

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — An Israeli military court ordered the release of 19 Hamas officials — including Cabinet ministers and lawmakers — from an Israeli prison. The men, arrested by Israel after the June 25 capture of Corporal Gilad Shalit of Israel by Hamas-linked militants, will remain behind bars for several more days pending an appeal by prosecutors.Meanwhile, Hamas officials gave the Palestinian president the go-ahead yesterday for negotiations with Israel, a major shift in the Islamic political party’s position as it works to end its international isolation.Israel said the court decision was not meant to reward Hamas for its moves toward moderation.“I don’t think that right now we would be making gestures of goodwill for the Hamas. We would be making gestures of goodwill to Abu Mazen,” an Israeli government spokeswoman, Miri Eisin, said, referring to the moderate President Abbas by his nickname. Ms. Eisin said the courts were independent of the government.Despite the apparent easing of tensions, Israeli troops shot and killed a 13-year-old boy during a raid in the West Bank town of Bethlehem after youths began pelting troops with stones, witnesses and hospital officials said. The Israeli military said soldiers fired after Palestinian Arabs attacked them. One soldier was wounded.Hamas gunmen, along with members of another group, also battled Israeli troops operating near Gaza’s border with Israel, killing one soldier early yesterday, the army said.Hamas, whose ideology calls for Israel’s replacement with an Islamic state, reached agreement Monday with Mr. Abbas’s Fatah Party to form a unity government in an effort to end the financial crisis crippling the Palestinian economy. International donors cut off aid to the Palestinian Authority when Hamas formed its Cabinet six months ago.Hamas is listed as a terror group by Israel and many Western nations.Mr. Abbas has long pushed for a resumption of peace talks with Israel, and Hamas said yesterday that he would have full authority to hold those negotiations.Palestinian Prime Minister Haniyeh, a Hamas leader, said the government itself would not be involved in the talks because negotiations are supposed to be handled by the Palestine Liberation Organization, headed by Mr. Abbas. The distinction could allow Hamas to retain its hard-line credentials with the Palestinian street, while the government gains international acceptance.A spokesman for the Hamas-led government, Ghazi Hamad, told Israel’s army radio in Hebrew that the Palestinian Arabs would be ready to establish a state in territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East War — the West Bank, Gaza, and eastern Jerusalem.Visiting Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos said the new Palestinian coalition could be a “positive step in principle,” but he stopped short of saying whether it would persuade the European Union to restore aid to the Palestinian Authority.While Mr. Hamad said Hamas would not recognize Israel’s right to exist, the joint government is to be based on a platform that many believe implies recognition of the Jewish state.“We have nothing against negotiations. We have nothing against a diplomatic process, but we have rights,” Mr. Hamad said.Israel, American, and the European Union have demanded that Hamas renounce violence, recognize Israel’s right to exist, and accept past peace agreements.With negotiations over the government guidelines continuing, no date was set for it to take office.Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was heading to Washington yesterday for talks with Secretary of State Rice.Israel wants to ensure the international community does not reward Hamas for half measures, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said.“If the new Palestinian government reaches the three benchmarks, and Gilad Shalit is released, then things could move ahead very quickly,” he said. “Anything less than that is just a recipe for further stagnation.”And Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Corporal Shalit’s release could lead to “meaningful talks” with the Palestinian Arabs.Corporal Shalit’s capture sparked a broad Israeli offensive in Gaza, and security forces arrested three dozen Hamas officials on charges of belonging to a banned group.The military judge, who ruled yesterday that 18 of those in custody should be freed, questioned the timing of the arrests, noting the men were permitted to run for office and serve in the Palestinian government for months before their detentions. He said the politicians — including Parliament Speaker Abdel Aziz Duaik and Religious Affairs Minister Nayef Rajoub — should be released. In a separate hearing, a judge ordered Deputy Prime Minister Nasser Shaer freed.Prosecutors plan to appeal tomorrow. Decisions are expected next week. In the meantime, the 19 remain in prison.Earlier this week, the court ordered the release of three other Hamas members. That appeal is to be heard today.“The arrest of the parliamentarians and ministers was from the beginning an unjust arrest,” Mr. Haniyeh said. “We hope all of them will be released.”

Israeli Court Orders Hamas Officials Released

Israeli Court Orders Hamas Officials Released

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