Israel frees Hamas founding member following two-year imprisonment, according to family member

On March 19, 2026, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the media during a press conference held in Jerusalem, in a development that occurred on the same day as another significant event in the region, as a prominent figure was released from detention.

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Hassan Yousef, a 71-year-old co-founder of Hamas, was freed by Israeli authorities in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, following more than two years of detention without trial, and was subsequently taken to a hospital in Ramallah, according to his son Owais Yousef.

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Yousef, a senior Hamas leader in the West Bank, was a key figure in the group's establishment in the 1980s, alongside Sheikh Ahmad Yassine and other Palestinian members of the Muslim Brotherhood, playing a crucial role in shaping the organization.

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At the time of the report, Israeli police had not responded to a request for confirmation of Yousef's release, leaving some uncertainty surrounding the circumstances of his freedom.

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Yousef had been held in administrative detention by Israeli authorities since October 2023, shortly after a Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza, highlighting the ongoing tensions between the two sides.

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Israel has increasingly relied on administrative detention to hold Palestinians, including Yousef, for renewable six-month periods without charge, a practice that has been criticized by rights groups and others who argue that it is often abused.

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According to Israeli authorities, administrative detention is a necessary tool to prevent attacks and allow for the gathering of evidence, but critics argue that it is used to detain individuals without due process.

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Hassan Yousef has been arrested by Israel on several occasions in the past, with his most recent release prior to the current one being in July 2020, after 16 months of administrative detention.

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As a member of the now-defunct Palestinian parliament, Yousef has been a prominent figure in Palestinian politics, although his personal life has been marked by estrangement from his eldest son, Mosab Hassan Yousef.

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Mosab Hassan Yousef, who spied on his father's movement for 10 years, worked for Israel's internal security agency Shin Bet from 1997 to 2007, before relocating to the United States and adopting a new identity.

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Mosab Hassan Yousef later wrote a book about his experiences, titled "Son of Hamas", which chronicles his time as a spy and his complicated relationship with his father and his father's organization.