Israel forces arrest senior Hamas leader in West Bank

Israeli occupation forces raided the house of a senior Hamas leader in the West Bank city of Beitonya, Hassan Yousef, 65, on Friday at dawn and arrested him, Palestinian security sources reported.

The security sources disclosed that a large number of Israeli occupation forces raided the city and broke into the house of Yousef, before arresting and sending him to Ofer Prison.

Yousef was released in July 2020 after spending 15 months in Israeli prisons.

Yousef, who is a Palestinian MP, spent a total of 21 years in Israeli prisons, mostly under administrative detention.

The Hamas leader suffers from several chronic diseases, including hypertension and diabetes and needs continuous medical care.

Fatah: Israel’s detention of Hamas leader ‘an attempt to thwart unity efforts’

Palestinian factions condemned the detention of Yousef, whom they assert is being detained for no reason but to incarcerate him under administrative detention.

Secretary-General of Fatah’s Executive Committee Jibril Rajoub has stated that Israel detained Yousef in order to undermine ongoing efforts to unite the Palestinian people against the Israeli and US threats targeting the Palestinian cause.