GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades leader Zaki al-Sakani was released from the Hamas government’s security prisons on Oct. 19. Sakani learned the news less than 24 hours before his release. The surprise move has prompted speculation about a potential agreement between Hamas and dismissed Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan.
Sakani was arrested by the Hamas government security services on Aug. 2, 2008, after sustaining abdominal injuries during armed clashes. The [Hamas] judiciary laid several charges against him, most importantly for forming terrorist groups, planning terrorist attacks, possessing and manufacturing explosives, and involvement in the Gaza beach explosion that killed five members of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades as well as a child on July 25, 2008. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison, a term that was later on reduced to 10 years.
Sakani left for Cairo with a temporary passport 24 hours after his release, he told Al-Monitor over the phone. “I bid my nuclear family — my wife, children, mother, brothers and sisters — farewell at the family house a few hours before leaving the Gaza Strip. After that, I went straight to the Rafah crossing. The Gaza Interior Ministry prevented me from bidding my other relatives or neighbors farewell.”
He said that the Gaza Interior Ministry kept him from telling anyone about his release to avoid being welcomed by a crowd of friends and relatives, and he could just see his nuclear family.
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