Son of Hamas founder urges Israel to kill his father if hostages not freed

(JNS) — Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of one of Hamas’s original founders, on Tuesday called on Israel to set a time limit for the terror group to release all Israeli hostages, and to assassinate his father, Sheikh Hassan Yousef, and other Hamas leaders if they don’t. 

“Hamas must have a timeframe—a month or two or six months—to return the hostages, and if they don’t return the hostages within the time frame, Israel must execute top Hamas leaders in prison, especially the mass murderers,” said Yousef in a video message posted online.

“When I say execute top Hamas leaders, I mean no exceptions. That includes my own father, the co-founder of the Hamas movement. In this war, there are no exceptions,” added Yousef. “I made a mistake, 10 or 15 years ago, when I saved his life many times… he was supposed to die for his actions. I saved his life. Things did not change, things got worse,” he added.

He warned that Hamas is intentionally dragging out negotiations to extend the ceasefire with Israel.

“Hamas is going nowhere, and if we continue to negotiate with them, they will continue stretching these negotiations, taking us into a rabbit hole that will never end. And this is their goal: to get away with their crimes. We cannot allow this to happen,” he stressed.

Yousef, 45, was born in Ramallah and became involved in Hamas activities as a youth. He was viewed as an eventual successor to his father in the terror organization. But while in Israel’s Megiddo Prison during his early adulthood, Yousef began to question Hamas’s ideology and tactics and became disillusioned with the organization.

He accepted an offer from the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) to become an informer on condition that Israel would try to arrest, not kill, the targets of his intelligence tips.

As the son of Sheikh Yousef, he was privy to many Hamas plans. For around a decade, the intelligence he provided the Shin Bet foiled numerous suicide bombing attacks and assassination attempts, and exposed terror cells. Within the Shin Bet, he was referred to as “The Green Prince.”

In 2010, Yousef published his autobiography, “Son of Hamas.” He converted to Christianity and currently lives in the United States.

Sheikh Yousef has been in and out of Israeli prisons for years. Israel arrested him in Ramallah on Oct. 19 during a crackdown on Hamas following the Oct. 7 attacks.

At least 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on Oct. 7. Another 240 men, women, children and soldiers were taken back to Gaza as hostages. Some people remain unaccounted for as Israeli authorities continue to identify bodies and search for human remains.

Approximately 155 Israelis and foreigners are still being held in Gaza.