Who is Mosab Hassan Yousef? US-based son of Hamas founder urges Israel to kill terror organization's leadership
The son of Hamas founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef wants Israel to kill Hamas leadership despite a ceasefire that was enforced on Friday, May 21. In a phone interview, Mosab Hassan Yousef spoke with The New York Post and said, “Assassinating Hamas leadership will not destroy Hamas, but it will teach them a lesson and hold them accountable. Next time, before you get civilians on both sides involved in a bloodbath, you need to think 1,000 times. This is my personal suggestion.”
He also put blame on Hamas leaders including his father for probably planning the recent violence that killed hundreds, while using the deaths of their own people to gain foreign propaganda points. “Hundreds of children have paid the price. These type of people cannot get away with what they did. They should not feel safe for a day. Hamas hates Israel more than they love their own children,” the 43-year-old stated.
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Mosab then went on to explain what disappointed Hamas. Referring to the peace deals Israel signed with several Middle East states in 2020, he said, “Hamas was very disappointed by the Abraham Accords that ignored them completely. It’s the new reality that President Donald Trump made in the region. This is a new reality and Hamas is not prepared to accept it,” before adding, “The Middle East understood Trump’s language very well. It was the language of fire. He did not show lots of tolerance. The seventh-century mentality of the Middle East misunderstands tolerance as weakness.”
Who is Mosab Hassan Yousef?
Mosab was born in May 1978 in the West Bank city of Ramallah. It has been said that he was groomed by Hassan Yousef to become a top leader in the Palestinian terrorist organization. But he rejected it, and in 1997, he started secretly working with Israel's internal security service -- the Israel Security Agency, or more popular as the Shin Bet. He worked with them for a decade and was given the code name “The Green Prince”.
However, eventually, Mosab leaned towards Christianity and sought political asylum in the US. He was granted citizenship in the US in 2018. He is currently in California where he enjoys yoga and free diving. To earn a living, he involves himself in speaking engagements and also does consulting work.
According to reports, he realized his life is worth more than terrorism and blood bath when in the mid-1990s he along with his father’s comrades were in jail in Israel. The jail was Megiddo Prison, where he saw Hamas prisoners’ involvement in murdering supposed Israeli collaborators. “During that time, Hamas tortured and killed hundreds of prisoners. Many, if not all, had nothing to do with Israeli intelligence. I will never forget their screams. I started asking myself a question. What if Hamas succeeded in destroying Israel and building a state. Will they destroy our people in this way?” Mosab recalled.
He also mentioned that although the Palestinians of Gaza democratically elected Hamas in 2006, they do not support them now. “The silence of the majority of Gaza is not because they support Hamas, but because they are afraid of Hamas. The people live in fear. Hamas rules over them by the sword. If you oppose Hamas they will shoot you or hang you immediately. You and your family are finished,” he added.
Mosab also said he has no contact with his family for over a decade. “[My father] publicly declared, ‘He is not my son’, which means if you want to get him, I am not going to stop you or come after you. He made my blood halal,” he concluded.
Sheikh Hassan Yousef, 66, currently serves as one of Hamas's leaders in the West Bank.