Hamas co-founder released by Israel

TT

Published 22.15

  

Hassan Yousef (center), who co-founded Hamas and is one of the group's leaders in the West Bank, during a meeting in Ramallah in 2005. File photo. Photo: Nasser Shiyoukhiap/TT

A prominent Hamas leader in the occupied West Bank has been released by Israeli authorities after being detained without trial for two years, his son says.

71-year-old Hassan Yousef, who co-founded Hamas in the 1980s, was released near the city of Hebron and has since been taken to hospital, his son Owais Yousef told AFP.

Hassan Yousef was arrested in October 2023, shortly after the Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the war in Gaza, and was placed in “administrative detention”. It is a criticized Israeli practice that means that Palestinians can be imprisoned without formal charges.

Yousef has been detained by Israel several times before. The last time he was released in July 2020 after 16 months in administrative detention.