WATCH: Hamas 'wanted to sacrifice thousands of children so Israel can take the blame,' says son of Hamas co-founder
Mosab Hassan Yousef says his father and other Hamas leaders must be eliminated if they don't release captives
Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of Hamas co-founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef, urged Israel on Tuesday to set a clear time limit for the Islamist terror organization to release all remaining Israeli and international hostages held in the Gaza Strip.
Yousef, who has become a vocal opponent of Hamas, even urged Israel to kill Hamas leaders, including his own father, if the terror organization does not release the hostages.
Yousef, who said he understands the Hamas mentality better than most people on the outside, emphasizes that neither Israel nor the international community can afford to release the "mass murderers" held in Israeli prisons in exchange for the hostages being held captive in Gaza.
"Hamas has been waging psychological warfare against humanity," he began.
They want to release thousands of mass murderers back to the streets in return for the Israeli hostages. Israel cannot afford this, but also humanity cannot afford this because the release of mass murderers... means the death of many other innocent people," Yousef said.
His father, Sheikh Hassan Yousef, recognized as a spiritual leader within the Hamas organization and serves as the terror group’s spokesperson in the West Bank, has spent many years in Israeli jail for terrorism-related incitement.
On Oct. 19, Israeli forces arrested Yousef’s father once again, as part of the ongoing strategic operation to eliminate senior Hamas officials, also in Judea and Samaria, internationally known as the West Bank.
The former Hamas prince said he understood recent Israeli compromises driven by the urgency to release abducted Israeli women, children and elderly in Gaza.
"I understand that Israel had to compromise in the past week or two in order to release children, women, elders, and defenseless civilians," Yousef said.
However, he stressed that Israel must stop compromising and shift its focus toward eliminating Hamas.
Yousef urged that "the remaining hostages – especially soldiers, [and] those who failed to defend themselves and defend the civilians in the southern communities when they were captured – should be treated as war prisoners and Israel must shift its priority from a hostage rescue mission to an offensive that focuses on eradicating Hamas."
In October, Yousef told Fox News that Israel should “finish Hamas rule in Gaza.”
“It is the time to win the war against the most brutal terrorist organization living today,” Yousef urged.
Last week, Yousef warned the international community of the consequences if Hamas survives as a military and political force in Gaza during his speech at The Mission of Israel to the UN.
“If Hamas is not eradicated in Gaza, we will set the model, we will give the freedom to so many radical groups around the world."
Regarding Hamas endangering the lives of innocent civilians in Gaza they are supposed to protect, Yousef emphasized: “This crime – none of us should forgive this crime. Gambling with children's blood for political gain? It doesn't get worse than this.”
“So Israel now got stained by blood," he continued. "This is what Hamas wanted to happen from Day 1. They wanted to sacrifice thousands of children so Israel can take the blame…”
He blasted Hamas as “savages” who perpetrated unspeakable crimes against humanity, against both Israeli and Gazan civilians.
“If Israel fails in Gaza, all of us will be next,” he emphasized.
Yousef who no longer keeps in contact with his family, defected from the terrorist group in the late '90s and cooperated with Israel's security services to expose and prevent several Hamas terrorist attacks. He described his remarkable story of leaving the radical movement in his bestselling book Son of Hamas in 2010. He also describes in the book how he left Islam and found faith in Jesus.
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.