Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of Hamas co-founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef, speaking at the University of Michigan on Nov. 28, 2023. Photo: Screenshot

The disowned son of a Hamas co-founder on Thursday evening called on Israel to kill his father along with all leaders of the Palestinian terror group, saying that failure to do so would result in the terrorists “ethnically cleansing humanity.”

Mosab Hassan Yousef — the son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, who was most recently released from an Israeli prison in July of this year after spending 21 months in detention — said that it was incumbent on Israel to set a definitive timeline for the release of all hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, and that if the timeline is not met, the country should proceed to eliminate top Hamas leaders, including his own father.

“If it wasn’t for me he would have died in the Second Intifada,” Yousef told The Algemeiner on a video call with reporters in Jerusalem, adding that it was a “mistake to save his life.”

“My father said I was no longer his son and called for my killing,” he continued. He went on to cite former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir in saying peace was only possible once “the Arabs would love their children more than they hate” the Jews.

“All Hamas leaders must die for gambling with children’s blood,” said Yousef, who converted from Islam to Christianity.

Yousef’s proposal extended beyond the immediate execution of terrorists in prison, and called for a broader campaign against Hamas chiefs in both Gaza and Qatar, which hosts and finances leaders of the terror group. The 45-year-old, who famously served as a spy for Israel from 1997 to 2007, said such actions are essential for the defeat of Hamas. He criticized Israel’s policy of exchanging prisoners for hostages, arguing it strengthens potential perpetrators of future violence.

“I don’t recommend the release of a single terrorist. We cannot compromise or bend to global pressure when it comes to Hamas. We must apply the death penalty,” he said, citing the release of Hamas’ chief in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, in the 2011 prisoner exchange deal with Gilad Shalit. “Look what happened. He was the architect of Oct. 7.”

On Oct. 7, Palestinian terrorists led by Hamas invaded southern Israel and massacred over 1,200 people, mostly civilians, launching the current war. They also abducted more than 240 people as hostages and took them back to Gaza, the Palestinian enclave ruled by Hamas.

Dozens of the captives had been released over the past week as part of a temporary ceasefire deal in which some of the hostages were freed in exchange for prisoners jailed in Israel. Fighting between Israel and Hamas resumed on Friday, however, as the truce collapsed.

Yousef warned that now that most of the women and children had been returned, Hamas was likely to attempt to extend the truce as long as possible so that it could recalibrate and rearm. The rest of the hostages still in Gaza, averred Yousef, should be treated as “war prisoners” and Israel’s efforts should be centered on eradicating the terror group.

“Hamas uses the truce to claim legitimacy,” he said. Referring to his childhood as the son of Hamas, or the Green Prince as he later became known to Israel’s Shin Bet security agency with whom he collaborated, Yousef said he was always aware of Hamas’ brutality and that his “basic instinct as a child was not to like them.”

Yousef assailed some European countries for their “blindness” when it came to Hamas.

“I don’t understand why the world is so blind,” he said.

“European leaders are coming in the midst of war and instead of standing with Israel they start proposing stupid ideas,” he added, referring to the fact that many countries in Europe have called for Israel to show restraint and seek a long-term ceasefire. “We are not in the middle of a peace process; we are in middle of existential war.”

“It’s not time to speak about peace and negotiations.”

Hamas “ethnically cleansed close to 20 communities based on their race, ethnicity, and religion, and this is what defines genocide,” he said of Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre. “And yet some of us still argue whether Israel has the right to respond.”

“Their first crime was genocide. Their second crime was taking human shields,” Yousef said, referencing both the abduction of Israelis and the Gazan civilian population, in which Hamas embeds itself.

Rebuffing comparisons between civilian casualties in Gaza and victims of Oct. 7, Yousef said the first group are “victims of genocide” while the second are “war victims because they’re being used as human shields by Hamas, the governing body.”

“There’s a big difference,” he said, and added that the war “should not be measured by how many died on each side.”

According to Yousef, with every round of conflict with Hamas, from Operation Cast Lead in 2008-2009 and through today, the terror group has become increasingly emboldened and more violent as a result of Israeli concessions.

“Democracies should never negotiate with terrorists,” he said.

“Anyone who believes in justice knows we have to eradicate Hamas and if we don’t all humanity will pay the price. This is not only Israel’s fight. This is the fight of every free person in the world,” he added.

“They lied when they said they are a Palestinian resistance group,” Yousef said of Hamas. “They are a religious group waging holy war against the whole world, not only Israel. They want to dominate the globe.”