Israel Frees W.Bank Hamas Official From Prison

Israel freed two senior Hamas officials detained in the occupied West Bank during a security sweep after the Islamist faction abducted an Israeli soldier two years ago, their families said on Wednesday.

The families said Abli Yaish, the Hamas mayor of Nablus, and Issa al-Ja'abari, a Hamas representative in Hebron, returned home after being freed from the Israeli detention centre Ofer.

The families said they posted bails of 25,000 shekels ($7,020) and 7,000 shekels respectively.

Israeli officials had no immediate comment.

Israel and Hamas have been negotiating through Egyptian mediators for the release of Gilad Shalit, the captive soldier believed being held by Hamas gunmen in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas has demanded Israel free all its jailed politicians and hundreds of other prisoners in exchange for Shalit.

Israel freed another prominent Hamas official on Sunday. Omar Abdel Razek, was finance minister when Israel arrested him in June 2006. An Israeli military tribunal later sentenced him on a charge of membership in a terrorist group.

Nablus businessman Ziad Anatawi also went free on Wednesday after spending two weeks in Israeli custody, his family said.

Anatawi was among 14 managers of a shopping mall in the city which Israel accused of links to Hamas fund-raising. The management denied the charge.