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.



Biden: Joseph Aoun is ‘First-Rate Guy’

FILE - President Joe Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, July 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool, File)
FILE - President Joe Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, July 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool, File)
TT

Biden: Joseph Aoun is ‘First-Rate Guy’

FILE - President Joe Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, July 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool, File)
FILE - President Joe Biden addresses the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, July 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool, File)

US President Joe Biden welcomed the election of Joseph Aoun as Lebanon's president on Thursday, saying in a statement that the army chief was the “right leader” for the country.

“President Aoun has my confidence. I believe strongly he is the right leader for this time,” said Biden, adding that Aoun would provide “critical leadership” in overseeing an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire.

Aoun's election by Lebanese lawmakers ended a more than two-year vacancy and could mark a step towards lifting the country out of financial meltdown.

“We finally have a president,” Biden said later, at the end of a meeting on the response to major wildfires in the US city of Los Angeles.

He said he had spoken to Aoun by phone on Thursday for “20 minutes to half an hour,” describing the Lebanese leader as a “first-rate guy.”

Biden pledged to continue US support for Lebanon’s security forces, and for Lebanon’s recovery and reconstruction, the White House said in a readout of Biden’s call with Aoun.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Aoun's election “a moment of historic opportunity,” which offered Lebanon a chance to “establish durable peace and stability.”

Aoun, who turned 61 on Friday, faces the difficult task of overseeing the fragile ceasefire with Israel in south Lebanon.

Separately, Biden spoke about the hostage talks between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

“We’re making some real progress,” he told reporters at the White House, adding that he had spoken with US negotiators earlier Thursday.

“I know hope springs eternal, but I’m still hopeful that we’ll be able to have a prisoner exchange.”

Biden added: “Hamas is the one getting in the way of that exchange right now, but I think we may be able to get that done. We need to get it done.”