Israel has released Hamas co-founder Hassan Youssef after nearly three years of administrative detention.

Hassan Youssef, one of the founders of Hamas and a leader of the movement in the West Bank, was released by Israel after being detained without trial since October 2023. According to his son, Owais Youssef, he was released near Hebron and later transferred to a hospital in Ramallah.

Images filmed in the hospital show Youssef in poor physical condition, complaining of severe pain. He had been arrested shortly after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, which triggered the war in Gaza.

Since the outbreak of the conflict, Israel has expanded the use of administrative detention, a procedure that allows the incarceration of suspects without charges for periods of up to six months, renewable. Israeli authorities claim that the measure is necessary to prevent attacks and continue investigations, while human rights organizations criticize the potential for abuses.

Hassan Youssef has been arrested multiple times and was last released in 2020, after 16 months of administrative detention.