Saudi Arabia releases senior Hamas official

Izzat al-Rishq, a member of the Hamas political bureau, affirmed in a tweet that Mohammed al-Khudari was released this morning and is heading to Amman in a plane. 

In September 2019, Hamas announced that Saudi Arabia had arrested al-Khudari and his son as part of a campaign that had targeted dozens of Palestinian and Jordanian nationals.

He was sentenced to 15 years in prison for supporting the Palestinian resistance. His prison sentence was later reduced to 6 years, wholly suspended for three years.

Al-Khudari, 84, is a veteran Hamas leader who was responsible for managing the movement's relationship with Saudi Arabia for two decades.

Amnesty International earlier sent a letter to King Salman bin Abdulaziz calling for al-Khudari's immediate release after his serious health deterioration. (ILKHA)