Israel may release the speaker of the Hamas-dominated Palestinian parliament in the coming few hours, his lawyer said on Wednesday.

The Israeli Military Court of Ofar, located in the occupied West Bank, today rejected an appeal to extend the detention of Aziz al-Dewik, the Hamas-affiliated head of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), who had been arrested for three years, said Fadi al-Qawasmi, the lawyer.

"The rejection of the appeal means that the court ruled to release him," al-Qawasmi told Xinhua.

According to the Israeli law, al-Dewik should be set free today but he has to pay an overdue fine of 5,000 New Israeli Shekel ($1,250), al-Qawasmi added.

Israel rounded up some 40 Hamas lawmakers from West Bank in June 2006 in response to the capturing of an Israeli soldier by Hamas fighters in Gaza Strip.

Aziz al-Dewik, the PLC Speaker, was among the detainees. The Israeli military court sentenced him for three years in prison, and al-Dewik has just completed his 36-month detention sentence.

Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, still holds the Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit hostage and demands to release him under a prisoner exchange deal.

(Xinhua News Agency June 18, 2009)