Israeli security forces overnight Tuesday arrested 12 Arabs in Judea and Samaria on suspicion of involvement in terrorism and violent disturbances. According to Arab sources, one of the detainees was senior Hamas operative in Judea and Samaria Sheikh Hassan Yousef, who is in his 60s and has been arrested many times in the past.
Yousef is credited with the establishment of Hamas in Judea and Samaria in 1987, after he had met with the legendary Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in Gaza.
Yousef’s son, Mosab Hassan Yousef, aka The Green Prince, was a Shin Bet agent for ten years and helped thwart dozens of suicide attacks, arrest of dozens of terrorists, and foil attempts to assassinate senior Israeli officials.
In August 2008, Yousef publicly revealed his conversion to Christianity, and renounced Hamas. As a result, his father severed all ties with him.
Clashes erupted in the Qalandiya refugee camp during the security forces’ overnight operation, resulting in the killing of a 23-year-old Arab and the wounding of three others. The IDF reported that army, border police, and police forces operating in the village of Aqab near the refugee camp, opened live fire at an Arab mob that was throwing explosive charges and stones at them.