The eldest son of one of the founding members of Hamas compared the Palestinian militant group to “Nazis” and said that civilian deaths in Gaza are “not Israel’s fault.”
On Thursday night, Mosab Hassan Yousef told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo that the situation with Hamas today is “very similar” to what the Nazi party did to the Jews “about 100 years ago.”
“Hamas organization is a barbaric organization and we have to remove them from power, whatever it takes,” Yousef said. “All the people who are afraid to see bloodshed, to them I say this is war. This is war! You have to accept it. And Hamas started this war. We’re talking about an organization that does not regard human life.”
Responding to a prior guest on Cuomo’s show, who was sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, Yousef said that Hamas and the Nazis had many things in common, despite being a century apart.
“Antisemitism and anti-Israel, anti-life is what was in common between this type of people [Hamas] and the Nazis,” Yousef said. “Because the Nazis, about 100 years ago, it was a point of view. And soon later, they were gassing people in chambers. So, today we have a very similar situation. We have a Nazi group — we saw what they did on Oct. 7 — and they are hiding behind children and women.”
“Israel say evacuate, evacuate civilians,” he continued. “[Israel communicated through] [l]eaflets, phone calls, through media, give them an opportunity of 20 days to evacuate. But they didn’t! They still give shelter to Hamas. You know why? Because they are partnering with Hamas. And in this case, Israel is not responsible for any harm that happens to these civilians in northern Gaza [who are] staying now, as we speak. Why did they have the opportunity to get the f*** out? Three weeks. Run for your life. Israel made it very clear. Why they are still in northern Gaza, giving Hamas shelter, giving Hamas protection?”
Yousef is the son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, one of Hamas’ co-founders. He was disowned by his father after defecting to Israel and becoming an informant for Shin Bet, Israel’s intelligence agency. The younger Yousef told the New York Post in 2021 that he saw the light after he witnessed Hamas torture and kill prisoners during a stint in an Israeli prison with some of his father’s comrades in the mid-1990s.
He has been outspoken in his support for Israel and condemnation of Hamas for more than 20 years.
“Before we blame Israel, let me tell you something,” he said. “If these civilians choose to be with Hamas, then, if they die with Hamas, it’s not Israel’s fault.”