Israel Frees Hamas Co-Founder After Two Years In Detention

Israeli authorities have released senior Hamas leader and co-founder Hassan Yousef after more than two years in administrative detention, according to his family.

Yousef, 71, was freed in the occupied West Bank on Thursday and transferred to a hospital in Ramallah, his son said.

A founding member of Hamas in the 1980s, Yousef has been one of the movement’s most prominent figures in the West Bank. He was detained in October 2023, shortly after the Hamas attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war.

Israel’s administrative detention system allows suspects to be held without formal charges for renewable six-month periods. Israeli authorities say the measure is necessary for security reasons, while human rights groups have criticised its use.

Yousef has been arrested several times by Israel over the years and was previously released from administrative detention in 2020.