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The son of a Hamas co-founder said that Israeli authorities released his father in the occupied West Bank on Thursday after holding him without trial for more than two years.
Hassan Yousef, 71, was “freed near the southern West Bank city of Hebron” and taken to a hospital in Ramallah where he resides, his son Owais Yousef said.
Yousef is a senior leader of Hamas in the West Bank, having co-founded the group in the 1980s along with Sheikh Ahmad Yassine and other Palestinian members of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Israeli police did not immediately respond to an AFP request for confirmation.
Yousef had been held in Israeli administrative detention since October 2023, shortly after the Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.
Israel has increased its use of administrative detention against Palestinians since the war. The system allows it to detain individuals for renewable six-month periods without charge.
Israel says the procedure allows authorities to hold suspects and prevent attacks while continuing to gather evidence, but critics and rights groups say the system is abused.
Israel has arrested Yousef several times over the years. He was last released in July 2020 from 16 months of administrative detention.
A member of the now-defunct Palestinian parliament, Yousef is estranged from his eldest son Mosab Hassan Yousef, who for 10 years spied against his father’s movement.
From 1997 to 2007, Mosab Hassan Yousef worked for Israel’s internal security agency Shin Bet, before relocating to the United States, where he lives under a new identity and wrote the book “Son of Hamas”
President Donald Trump has called for calm following Iranian strikes in response to Israel’s latest assault against Hezbollah positions in Lebanon.
Trump confirmed he had been briefed on the situation and advised Israel to exercise restraint, noting that parties are very close to a deal to end the war.
“No one was hurt in the missile attack (on Israel),” the leader told N12. “If (Benjamin) Netanyahu responds, this will continue and continue.”
The President emphasized he is not happy about Israel’s new attacks in the region and that they were not coordinated with the United States.
“Israel had its strike and Iran had its strike. We don’t need another one,” Trump told Israeli journalist Barak Ravid, saying further strikes will derail the peace process.
“The Iranian regime made a grave mistake,” an IDF spokesperson declared after defense systems intercepted retaliatory missiles from Iran.
The Israel Defense Forces on Sunday announced it struck Hezbollah’s headquarters in the Dahieh district of Beirut, in reaction to firing at the homeland.
On X, the IDF posted video of a Hezbollah tunnel under the Beaufort Ridge, comprising living quarters, electrical infrastructure, and anti-tank and aerial defense capabilities.
The military said as part of its Israel-Lebanon peace efforts, a request was submitted to the Lebanese Armed Forces to address the site but Hezbollah prevented any action.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters has justified its strikes, demanding Israel stop targeting southern Lebanon and the Dahieh suburb.
Tehran accuses Jerusalem of “repeated ceasefire violations and increasing aggression against the oppressed people of Lebanon,” vowing further attacks if Israel expands its offensive.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order he declared would keep the United States at the forefront of Artificial Intelligence.
The President noted that the action became imperative to support the enormous talent and innovation of the nation’s AI industry, and reduce “overly burdensome regulation.”
Trump said though advanced AI capabilities make America stronger, they introduce new national security considerations that require coordinated action across departments and agencies.
