Hamas urges Saudi Arabia to release senior figure

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - The Hamas resistance group on Thursday called on Saudi Arabia to release one of its leaders who has been in jail since 2019.

"With great concern, we received a report on Wednesday by Amnesty International about the health status of Dr. Mohammed al-Khudari, the former Hamas representative in Saudi Arabia who has been detained since 2019," the group said in a press statement.

The group also said Al-Khudari "suffers from many health problems and his condition -- as Amnesty International explained -- is continuously deteriorating and he has lost the ability to eat directly."

Hamas demanded that Saudi authorities release al-Khudari and his son, Hani, as well as all Palestinian detainees in held Saudi Arabia.

On Wednesday, Amnesty International sent a letter to Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz calling for him to release Al-Khudari due to the deterioration of his health.

There was no comment from Riyadh on the human rights organization's letter.

According to the letter, the health condition of Dr. Mohammed al-Khudari, a Palestinian who is currently detained in Saudi Arabia, has deteriorated due to his lack of access to adequate health care.

The organization said Dr. Al-Khudari, 83, had undergone surgery and was being treated for prostate cancer when the Saudi authorities arrested him and his son Dr. Hani Al-Khudari on April 4, 2019.

Amnesty called on the Saudi king to ensure that the baseless charges against Al-Khudari and his son are dropped and they are released.

Hamas announced in September 2019 that Saudi Arabia had arrested al-Khudari and his son as part of a campaign that had affected dozens of Palestinians.

*Bassel Barakat contributed to this report from Ankara