Over the past several weeks, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has granted extended vacation leaves to dozens of jailed Hamas and Islamic Jihad activists, among them militants who were involved in serious attacks against Israel, Haaretz reported Monday.
Israeli military authorities view the return of the Palestinian "revolving door" with mounting concern, the Israeli paper said, adding that the release of the activists is seen as an effort by the PA to soothe relations with the fundamentalist groups. Recently, convicts have been released in small groups every few days, for leaves of a week or longer.
Israeli security sources were quoted by the daily as saying that some of those released were involved in Hamas and Islamic Jihad attacks carried out after the signing of the Oslo agreement, and were arrested, in the main, following the wave of bus bombings in early 1996.
On August 28, Israel and the Palestinians cracked down on Hamas, arresting at least 12 of its members following a botched raid that led to the capture of a top Hamas militant, Mahmoud Abu Hannoud, who was sentenced for three years in prison after a three-hour security court trial.
On Saturday, Leading Palestinian intellectuals and human rights activists called for an end to the controversial security courts in the Palestinian Authority, reported Middle East News Line agency (MENL).
The call was made as Palestinian President Yasser Arafat approved Friday a death sentence handed down by a security court against a 19-year-old man from Gaza City, said the agency. The sentence was issued after a one-hour trial.
So far, Palestinian courts have sentenced 31 people to death since 1994, according to MENL - (Several Sources)
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