This is a triumph for Abu Hawash and for all the Palestinian people, said in a statement the official spokesman of the governmental Fatah movement, Osama al Qawasmi.

The spokesman for the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), Abdel Latif al Qanun, said the detainee defied “the face of terrorism and the arrogance of the occupation”.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine stressed that Abu Hawash defeated the will of the Tel Aviv prison administration and the tyranny of his torturers.

In a statement, that leftist formation called on the population of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank to continue the struggle against the Israeli occupation.

In an interview with the Safa news agency, Muhammad Abu Hawash, brother of the prisoner, praised the efforts of the resistance and the broad popular solidarity.

Following a wave of international criticism and protests in the Palestinian territories, the Tel Aviv authorities yesterday decided to release the prisoner in February, after which he ended his hunger strike.

In recent days, protests and marches intensified in various areas of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in solidarity with the detainee.

The European Union, the International Committee of the Red Cross and other global bodies also showed concern for his health.

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