Ex-Hamas Member Slams Partial Hostage Deal: "It Will Keep Hamas in Power"

Mosab Hassan Yousuf, once known as the “Green Prince” and son of Hamas co-founder Sheikh Hassan Yousuf, has warned that Hamas aims to fracture Israeli society and maintain its grip on Gaza through partial hostage deals. Having defected from Hamas after serving as a Shin Bet informant, Yousuf now speaks as a visiting fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Foreign Affairs. In an interview with Arutz Sheva, he compared Hamas to “the new Nazis,” urging global Jewish unity to counter the group’s tactics and protect Israel’s survival.

Yousuf rejected negotiations with Hamas, stating, “There is no deal with the devil, because how can you find common ground with people who want to kill, kidnap, and do savage things? This is Hamas and, in general, the Palestinian mindset, the death cult that justifies suicide bombing, kidnapping toddlers, raping.” He cautioned that partial hostage releases would extend Hamas’s rule: “If we take partial deals now, Hamas is going to stay in power for the next six months or the next year. Israel does not have the time. The humanitarian crisis will only deepen, and Israel will be blamed.” He advocated removing Hamas from power, saying, “If we bring the hostages and remove Hamas from power, this is a victory by itself. Let’s start by cutting their tree trunk.”

Drawing parallels to Nazi ambitions, Yousuf noted, “We can eradicate it for the next 50 or 100 years. Remember the Nazis, they had ambitions to dominate the globe. Now we have a new movement of Nazis that claim to be Palestinians.” He accused Hamas of exploiting aid, stating, “Hamas wants to take the aid because this is how they pay their members, not with money but with rice and food. It’s in their interest to starve the non-Hamas Gazans to gain global sympathy.” He described sacrificing civilians as a deliberate Palestinian strategy, adding, “They double down when terrorism is rewarded.”

Yousuf warned that internal Israeli protests fuel Hamas’s goal to “divide Israeli society, force the government to collapse, and delay the mission,” noting, “If we surrender to their demands and Hamas stays in power, the consequences of defeat will be deadly.” Reflecting on the October 7, 2023, attacks, he said, “There were rapes, kidnappings, beheadings. At some point, someone killed a Jew and ate his liver. This tribal vengeance from a 7th century mentality was projected on October 7th.”

Having rejected violence as a child despite his family’s acceptance of it against non-Muslims, Yousuf now feels unsafe outside Israel, stating, “To be anti-Palestinian narrative today means you are not welcome anywhere. Within days, people recognize you, and you are cancelled.” He urged Jewish unity, saying, “Sooner or later, millions of Jews will come to the same realization. Why invest your money and intelligence somewhere else? Bring it here.” He framed Israel as vital to humanity, stating, “Israel is the blueprint, a pillar of human evolution. Remove that pillar, and the entire structure is at risk.”

While respecting Judaism, Yousuf declined conversion, saying, “I am not interested in following religion. But I appreciate Judaism, its discipline, its moral compass. I see no difference between myself and the Jewish people.” Despite global threats, he remains hopeful, warning, “The real danger is that the Gaza model spreads to Europe or the U.S., bringing sick indoctrination into the fabric of societies.”