Israel releases former Palestinian Legislative Council speaker hours after he was detained

By Qais Abu Samra

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - Israel released the former speaker of the dissolved Palestinian Legislative Council, Aziz Dweik, after he was detained for hours on Thursday.

His sister, Huda, told Anadolu he was on his way home and he assured the family that he was “in good health.”

Israeli forces surrounded the Dweik’s home early Thursday in Hebron in the southern West Bank. Witnesses said troops mistreated him in front of his family before he was arrested.

The reason for Dweik's rearrest, one week after he was released, remains unclear. But he had recently faced intense media criticisms in Israel, with calls for him to be redetained following an interview in which he discussed the harsh conditions faced by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Dweik was freed last week after nearly nine months in detention, with no charges brought.

The 75-year-old was arrested Oct. 17 and issued a six-month order for administrative detention, which he has already served in prison.

Under Israeli military law, administrative detention is a measure that allows individuals to be jailed for up to six months without formal charges.

Dweik, who is from Hebron, became speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council after Hamas won a majority in the 2006 parliamentary elections. He held the post until Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced in late 2018 that the Constitutional Court in Ramallah had decided to dissolve the Council.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio