Quds, May 20, 2010, SPA -- Israel reportedly told Hamas leader Muhammad AbuTir late Thursday that he has to leave his home in occupied Al-Quds within a month and find residence outside the city, dpa quoted people close to Abu Tir as reporting. Israel earlier Thursday released Abu Tir after 43 months of detention. Abu Tir, who is also a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, was taken early morning from a prison in southern Israel to occupied Al-Quds police headquarters, and then allowed to return to his home in the East occupied Al-Quds village of Sur Bacher. Abu Tir, easily identifiable by a flamboyant dyed red beard, was among more than 40 Hamas leaders whom Israel arrested more than three years ago, after Gaza Strip-based militants launched a cross-border raid and snatched an Israeli soldier. Israeli police summoned Abu Tir hours after his release and told him he had until June 19 to leave his home in Sur Bacher, and find a place in either the West Bank or Gaza Strip. The order reflects an Israel decision to strip four occupied Al-Quds- based Hamas officials, elected more than four years ago to the Palestinian Legislative Council, of their occupied Al-Quds residency. Israel claims that by running for a seat in the council, the Hamas officials have lost their right to live in occupied Al-Quds. Abu Tir was the first to receive this order.
