Prominent Hamas Leader's Son Splits From the Movement

Suhaib Hassan Youssef during his interview with the Israeli channel.
Suhaib Hassan Youssef during his interview with the Israeli channel.
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Prominent Hamas Leader's Son Splits From the Movement

Suhaib Hassan Youssef during his interview with the Israeli channel.
Suhaib Hassan Youssef during his interview with the Israeli channel.

The son of senior Hamas leader Hassan Yousef has launched a major attack against the movement he has long worked for in the West Bank and Turkey, saying it was corrupt, spying for Iran in return for money and sending children to die in the West Bank to ease pressure on the Gaza Strip.

In an interview widely promoted by the Israeli news company, Suhaib Youssef said he had worked for Hamas for a long time, but decided to leave it because of corruption.

Suhaib was working as a Hamas official in Turkey only a month ago. But he suddenly decided to leave, boarding a plane to East Asia where he communicated with an Israeli journalist from Channel 12.

“Hamas has become part of me since I was a child. I grew up in Hamas and worked in the movement, but when it became corrupt, I left it,” he recounted.

Suhaib accused the movement of administrating “security and military institutions on Turkish territory under the guise of civil society groups.”

“They use the latest equipment to promote a foreign agenda and that’s what I want to reveal,” he said.

“The movement uses this information not for the benefit of the Palestinian people; it sends intelligence to Iran in exchange for financial support, and even funds are transferred through Turkish banks under the guise of civil society institutions,” he emphasized.

He also talked about sophisticated security centers and use of advanced phone tapping equipment, noting that Hamas tapped the phones of people and leaders in Ramallah, using high-tech hardware and software.

“Some people are experts in this field,” he underlined.

Suhaib is the brother of Mosab Yousef, who abandoned Islam in 2010, joined the Israeli Shin Bet and was nicknamed in Israel by the Green Prince. Unlike his brother, Suhaib says he remained a Muslim and did not cooperate with Israel.

He also explained that the movement in Turkey was recruiting people, including children, into the West Bank, to carry out attacks against Israelis. He added in the Israeli television interview that the aim of the attacks in the West Bank “was to kill civilians, not to liberate the land of Palestine, not even because they hate the Jews.”

“They are sending these innocents because they want to export the crisis [from Gaza] to the West Bank,” he affirmed.



Israeli Military Says it Struck 'Key' Hamas Figure in Lebanon's Tripoli

People gather near a damaged car after the Israeli military said in a statement that it struck a "key" figure from Palestinian militant group Hamas, in Ayrounieh, northern Lebanon July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Walid Saleh
People gather near a damaged car after the Israeli military said in a statement that it struck a "key" figure from Palestinian militant group Hamas, in Ayrounieh, northern Lebanon July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Walid Saleh
TT
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Israeli Military Says it Struck 'Key' Hamas Figure in Lebanon's Tripoli

People gather near a damaged car after the Israeli military said in a statement that it struck a "key" figure from Palestinian militant group Hamas, in Ayrounieh, northern Lebanon July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Walid Saleh
People gather near a damaged car after the Israeli military said in a statement that it struck a "key" figure from Palestinian militant group Hamas, in Ayrounieh, northern Lebanon July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Walid Saleh

The Israeli military said on Tuesday it had struck "key" figure from Palestinian militant group Hamas near the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, the first targeted killing in the area for several months.

In a statement, Israel's military did not give the identity of the targeted person. There was no immediate comment from Hamas.

Lebanese state media said a car had been hit near Tripoli and the health ministry reported two people were killed and three others wounded, without identifying them, Reuters reported.

Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups maintain a presence in various areas of Lebanon, mostly in camps that have housed displaced Palestinians for decades.

Since Hamas' cross-border attack from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel in 2023, Israel has carried out targeted strikes on Lebanese armed group Hezbollah as well as members of Palestinian factions in Lebanon.

Hamas' deputy chief was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs in early 2024, and other strikes hit Palestinian camps in northern Lebanon.

A US-brokered ceasefire last year ended the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, though Israel has continued to carry out strikes on what it says are Hezbollah arms depots and fighters, mostly in southern Lebanon.

Tuesday's strike near Tripoli was the first time a targeted assassination had taken place in the area since the truce.

Meanwhile, US envoy Thomas Barrack continued a two-day visit to Lebanon to discuss disarming Hezbollah and other militant groups.