Hamas co-founder Hassan Yousef, 71, has been released from Israeli administrative detention, Yousef’s son Owais confirmed to local and international media late Thursday night.
Additionally, Hamas confirmed in an official statement that Yousef had been released, congratulating him and his family, and noting that he had spent over 20 years in prison, cumulatively.
During Yousef’s last prior detention, he spent 16 months in prison and was released in July 2020.
Most recently, following his post-October 2023 detention, Yousef was reportedly released near Hebron and taken directly to a hospital in Ramallah. Media reports indicated that he was not given a trial and therefore not charged with anything during this latest detention and release.
Footage reviewed by Agence France-Presse (AFP) appeared to show Yousef lying in a hospital bed with one arm in a sling; the source of his injury is not publicly known, according to the media outlet. The footage also reportedly captured Yousef telling loved ones, “I can’t sleep because of the pain.”
Yousef is a senior Hamas leader in the West Bank – AFP noted – having co-founded the group in 1987 along with Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and other Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood members.
He is the father of Mosab Hassan Yousef, who wrote the book Son of Hamas in 2010, and has rallied against the terror group since defecting in the 1990s.
Mosab Hassan Yousef worked with Israeli counter-intelligence and helped the Mossad in various operations, including incarcerating his father.
James Genn contributed to this report.
