Israel releases former Hamas minister

Israel on Tuesday released former Palestinian Education Minister Nasser Shaer from prison, the Israeli military said in a statement. The statement said Shaer was in administrative detention - imprisonment without trial - and was released under an agreement that he would sign a statement renouncing his membership in Hamas and declaring he would not hold positions in the Palestinian Authority for Hamas or any other illegal organization. Shaer the most senior among 33 Hamas leaders, including lawmakers, rounded up by security forces in the West Bank in May 2006.