Description

JERUSALEM – Hamas security officials released a prominent Gaza rights activist Tuesday, several days after he was repeatedly interrogated and detained over his participation in a French conference about Palestinian activism, his brother said.

Mohammed Matar, 25, was released hours after international media reported his arrest, according to his brother, Salem Matar.

His colleagues had also urged supporters on Facebook to pressure the Hamas government to release him.

Mohammed Matar belongs to a group of activists who held small rallies in March urging Gaza's Hamas rulers to unite with their rivals, the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority that rules the West Bank. Palestinians want both territories for their future state, but a reconciliation deal that Hamas and Fatah signed in May has stalled.

Other activists have also been repeatedly detained since then.

Hamas officials would not comment on Matar's case.