Israel frees Hamas MP after 16-month detention
Abu Tir, a Palestinian Legislative Council representative, was held since January 2016 on suspicion of involvement in terror funding
Israel on Tuesday released from custody a Hamas lawmaker who was detained for 16 months on terror-related charges.
Muhammad Abu Tir, 66, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, was expected to head to the Ramallah area of the West Bank following his release.
Abu Tir was arrested in January 2016 in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Kafr Aqab on suspicion that he helped transfer cash to the West Bank to finance terror attacks, and that he received money from Hamas leaders abroad.
According to an indictment filed against him, Abu Tir asked a Hamas official in Qatar to send him $100,000. He was also accused of having asked a Hamas member to buy him a pistol.
The Palestinian lawmaker has been arrested by Israel several times in the past.
In 2012, he was released from a year of detention without charges and expelled from Jerusalem. He was banned from entering the capital.
In June 2015, he was again released following a separate arrest.