Hamas Founder’s Son Urges Deadline for Hostage Release, Calls for Father’s Assassination

By Yoni Weiss

Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of one of Hamas’s original founders, on Tuesday urged Israel to give a deadline for the release of all hostages held by the terror group. He called for the assassination of his father, Sheikh Hassan Yousef, and other Hamas leaders if the hostages are not freed within the given time frame. Yousef’s statement was posted on social media.

“Hamas should be given a specific time frame — whether a month, two, or six — to return the hostages. If they fail, Israel should execute top Hamas leaders in prison, especially those responsible for mass killings,” said Yousef.

“This includes my own father, the co-founder of the Hamas movement. In this conflict, no one is exempt. I made a mistake 10 or 15 years ago when I saved his life multiple times. He was meant to face the consequences for his actions, yet I spared him. Unfortunately, things didn’t improve; they worsened.”

Yousef cautioned that Hamas is intentionally prolonging negotiations to extend the current ceasefire. He said, “Hamas has no intention of reaching a resolution. By continuing negotiations, they aim to indefinitely prolong the talks, evading accountability for their crimes. We cannot allow this to persist.”

Born in Ramallah, Mosab, 45, initially engaged in Hamas activities and was seen as a potential successor to his father’s position within the organization. However, during his time in Israel’s Megiddo Prison in his early adulthood, he began to question Hamas’s ideology and tactics, becoming disillusioned with their extremist approach.

Accepting an offer from the Shin Bet, Mosab agreed to provide information on the condition that Israel would attempt arrests rather than assassinations based on his intelligence.

Having insider knowledge due to his father’s position, Mosab’s intelligence provided to the Shin Bet foiled numerous suicide bombings and assassination attempts, and exposed terror cells. Within the Shin Bet, he was known as “The Green Prince.”

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