CNN –
A Hamas spokesman is among more than 60 members of the militant organization arrested by Israel in nightly raids in the West Bank, the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory that is increasingly feeling the impact of fighting in Gaza.
Several Palestinians were killed in an ongoing Israeli military operation in the Nour Shams refugee camp in the West Bank city of Tulkarem on Thursday, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Israel’s Shin Bet security service confirmed to CNN on Friday the arrest of spokesman Hassan Yousef “on suspicion of acting on behalf of Hamas.”
Hassan Yousef, a leading Palestinian politician and official Hamas spokesman in the West Bank, was arrested at his home, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Club, an NGO that represents Palestinian prisoners.
“Occupation forces arrested Hamas leader Sheikh Hassan Yousef at his home in Beitunia as part of a large-scale arrest campaign in the occupied West Bank,” the Palestinian Prisoners Club statement said.
Yousef was arrested multiple times by Israeli forces and spent a total of 24 years in Israeli prisons on various charges of sedition, illegal entry into Jerusalem and Hamas membership.
He has appeared regularly in international media and told Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail this week that he believed Hamas would be willing to release the estimated 200 hostages it was holding if Israel agreed to a 24-hour ceasefire. to enable aid deliveries to Gaza.
CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for comment on the reported detention of Hassan Yousef but has not yet received a response.
The IDF said there was an operation by Israeli security forces.
“After large-scale anti-terrorism activities overnight in Judea and Samaria [the Jewish biblical names for the West Bank]“Over 80 wanted suspects have been arrested, including 63 Hamas terrorists,” it said.
According to the Palestinian Prisoners Club, a total of 850 Palestinians have been detained in the West Bank since Hamas’ brutal attack in Israel on October 7. These reportedly include MPs, celebrities, journalists and former prisoners who have served lengthy sentences in Israeli prisons.
Mustafa Barghouti, the secretary general of the Palestinian National Initiative, told CNN that “there is a massive Israeli operation to arrest Palestinians.”
“Every night they make more and more arrests. The number of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons is currently up to 6,300,” Barghouti added. “They will not be charged, they will not be tried. There is no due process of law and this is what they call administrative detention, including no fewer than 200 children who are now in Israeli prisons.”
The Israeli move comes as the Gaza conflict has increasingly spilled over into the West Bank.
Several Palestinians were shot dead in clashes with Israeli forces in the West Bank on Thursday, according to the Palestinian Authority Health Ministry. The ministry told CNN it had confirmed the deaths of six people and that the death toll was likely to rise. Clashes between Palestinians and Israeli troops were reported in several locations.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said its staff were trying to reach the injured in Nour Shams, adding: “There are difficulties in reaching some of the injured people and ambulances with injured people inside are being held up.” [Israeli] Occupiers.”
CNN has reached out to the IDF to respond to this claim.
Since Israel took control from Jordan and occupied the West Bank in 1967 after the Six-Day War, the area that residents hope will be part of a future Palestinian state has been partly populated by Israeli civilians, often under Israeli military protection.
Most of the world considers these settlements illegal under international law, but several Israeli governments have nevertheless pledged their support.
Israel considers the West Bank a “disputed territory” and claims its settlement policy is legal.