[JURIST] An Israeli military court Tuesday ordered the release of 21 Palestinian lawmakers, including three cabinet ministers, who were detained [JURIST report] following the Hamas capture of Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit [Wikipedia backgrounder] in Gaza in June. Prosecutors are appealing the decision to release the detainees on bail, however, and the lawmakers will remain in jail for another 48 hours pending that challenge.

Over 30 Hamas [CFR backgrounder; JURIST news archive] lawmakers have been detained since Shalit's capture on June 29, including Palestinian parliament speaker Aziz Dweik [official profile, in Arabic; JMCC profile] and the secretary-general of the Palestinian Legislative Council [official website]. Reuters has more.