Israel releases Hamas co-founder Hassan Yousef after two years in detention

Hassan Yousef, a 71-year-old co-founder of Hamas, has been released by Israeli authorities in the occupied West Bank after being held for over two years without trial. His son, Owais Yousef, confirmed his father's release near Hebron on Thursday, stating he was taken to a hospital in Ramallah, where he resides.

Yousef, a senior Hamas leader in the West Bank, co-founded the group in the 1980s. He was detained under Israel's administrative detention policy in October 2023, shortly after the Hamas attack that initiated the ongoing conflict in Gaza. This policy allows Israel to detain individuals for renewable six-month periods without filing charges, a practice Israel states is necessary to apprehend suspects and prevent attacks while gathering evidence.

Critics and human rights groups, however, argue that this system is frequently abused. Israel has seen an increase in the use of administrative detention against Palestinians since the war in Gaza began. Yousef himself has been arrested multiple times over the years, with his last release from a 16-month administrative detention period occurring in July 2020.

Notably, Yousef is estranged from his eldest son, Mosab Hassan Yousef, who previously spied for Israel's internal security agency, Shin Bet, for ten years. Mosab Hassan Yousef later relocated to the United States, where he lives under a new identity and authored the book "Son of Hamas."

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freed near the southern West Bank city of Hebron and taken to a hospital in Ramallah where he resides