Israel releases jailed Palestinian resistance leader

By Kaamil Ahmed

JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli authorities on Tuesday released Palestinian leader and resistance icon Sheikh Raed Salah from prison, where he had been held since May of last year.

Salah is the leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement, which represents Palestinians inside Israel and is known for its vocal opposition to Israel’s decades-long occupation.

Shortly after his release, Salah went to Tel Aviv where he met with local Palestinians at the historic Hassan Beik Mosque, eyewitnesses told Anadolu Agency.

Salah was imprisoned in May of last year after an Israeli court found him guilty of "inciting violence".

In 2015, Israel banned the Islamic Movement’s northern branch -- likewise accusing it of "incitement to violence" -- amid heightened tension over Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque complex.

Salah’s movement has come under scrutiny in recent years due to its vocal opposition to increasingly frequent visits by hardline Jewish activists to the Al-Aqsa complex, which is revered by both Muslims and Jews.

Tensions boiled over in late 2015 when a ban on young Muslims entering the mosque complex -- and an exponential increase in the number of Jewish visitors to the site -- led to a series of violent clashes.

Salah was born in 1958 in the city of Umm al-Fahm in northern Israel. He later studied Islamic Law at Hebron University in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

He served as mayor of Umm al-Fahm for three consecutive terms from 1987 to 2001 and has led the Islamic Movement's northern branch since 1996.