Salah was serving the sentence in the Ayalon Prison in central city of Ramle for rioting against the excavation works at Al-Magharebah Gate of Al-Aqsa Mosque and assaulting a police officer some four years ago.

Zahi Njeidat, spokesman for the northern branch of the Islamic Movement, said that hundreds of members of the movement were waiting for Salah at the prisons' entrance. Njeidat added that the participants chanted "Sheikh Salah is the sheikh of Al-Aqsa."

He added that a hero's welcome in Um El-Fahem, where Salah currently lives, and a special rally was planned in his honor later on the day.

Salah said after his release that the five months he spent in prison were the best days in his life since he spent them in prayers, fasting and reciting the Holy Qur'an.

"I do not regret a single second in prison," Salah told the crowd of mostly middle-aged men who crowded to shake his hand, hug him and kiss him on the cheeks.

"Nothing is more righteous than the cause of Al-Aqsa and Jerusalem." The crowd responded with its own cheers, "We'll sacrifice ourselves for Al-Aqsa, Oh Raed!"

Speaking about the Israeli order banning him from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound, Salah stressed that he is the only one "to decide entering Al-Aqsa Mosque without regards to the Zionist decisions."

The altercation, Salah was convicted of, took place in East Jerusalem. The incident saw Salah, together with four other Arab Palestinians, demonstrate against Israeli excavations at Al- Magharebah Gate of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.