Israel releases senior Palestinian cleric Raed Salah after 17 months in prison

Israel on Monday released Palestinian cleric Raed Salah, a major Muslim leader, after he spent 17 months in jail, according to his lawyer, Omar Khamaysi.

Sheikh Salah was imprisoned last year and sent to the Megiddo prison in northern Israel for allegedly "inciting terrorism against the Israeli government".

However, he was on his way home early on Monday, Khamaysi told reporters.

Dozens of Palestinians stood outside the prison to welcome Salah home, carrying banners and slogans saying "Sheikh Salah is our voice against the injustice". 

Cars with loudspeakers drove through the streets of Umm al-Fahm streets, where Salah is originally from, in the early hours of the morning, while activists hung banners with portraits of the cleric. 

The Higher Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel, the highest representative body of Palestinian citizens of Israel, was also expected to organise a reception ceremony for Salah in Umm Al-Fahm.

"Sheikh Salah was unfairly imprisoned and paid the price for preserving the principles of our people and defending the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque," the committee said in a statement on Sunday.

Salah, the leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, was detained in August 2017 and indicted for alleged incitement over his criticism of the erection of metal detectors at Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

He was sentenced to 28 months in prison by an Israeli court. He served 11 months in jail, half of which was in solitary confinement, before he was moved to a house arrest.

After two years under house arrest, in August 2020, Salah began a 17-month jail term on incitement charges.

A staunch defender of Palestinian rights, Salah has staged several protests against Israeli policies and campaigned against the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories.

Since 2015, Israel has prohibited Salah from traveling outside the country due to "national security" issues.

The Islamic Movement in Israel, which Salah founded in 1971, was outlawed by the Israeli authorities in 2015. 

Salah has been repeatedly arrested since then and Israeli authorities have down dozens of organisations, including several charities, over alleged links to his group.