QALQILIYA (Ma'an) -- A TV producer who spent eight years in Israeli jail was released on Thursday, and greeted by crowds at the entrance to West Bank town Qalqiliya.

Yaqoub al-Hutari worked for Qalqiliya TV before Israeli forces detained him in 2004, on suspicion belonging to leftist group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Dozens gathered at the entrance of the northern city to greet al-Hutari, where they waved Palestinian flags and banners calling for the release of hunger-striking prisoner Khader Adnan.