Thread by @CurtisHouck

🧵Incredible @JakeTapper interview with Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of the founder of Hamas, who actually was an undercover informant for Israel from 1997 to 2007.

Yousef: "Since I was a child I always complained to my father about hamas abuse of power and their brutality, you know, they're very strict and they -- they're religious -- they're fanatics".

.@JakeTapper: "Did the barbarity and the cruelty of what Hamas did to innocent civilians on October 7, did that surprise you?"

Yousef: "Well, you know, they surprised me as they surprised everybody by the scale of the attack...but their brutality, their nature, it did not surprise me. You know, back in 1996, they killed so many people, they tortured so many people...They did all type of crazy things, you know, they put needles under people's fingernails, you know, and I witnessed that firsthand. So, I'm not surprised to what extent Hamas can go, but the scale...was surprise I think for everybody including Hamas themselves."

Incredible words from @MosabHasanYOSEF, the son of Hamas founding member to CNN's @JakeTapper:

"Israel is fighting on behalf of America, Israel is fighting on behalf of the Palestinian people. Israel now is fighting on behalf of the free world. This is not A political propaganda. I as, as an ex-Hamas member, the son of the founder of Hamas organization and today as an American citizen, I ask the President of the United States to give Israel the necessary cover, the necessary supply, whatever it takes to uproot Hamas. Otherwise, the next war is going to be deadlier."

.@JakeTapper: "Strategically, do you think it is wise for the Israeli Defense Forces to stage a ground incursion into Gaza to uproot Hamas? Do you think that's a smart thing to do?

Yousef: "Well...Hamas started this war...[T]hey start a war every few years. Whenever they want money, you know, they shed children's blood. This is their game, and this has to stop. This has to come to an end, and, unfortunately, the price is not going to be cheap. In fact, I feel very sorry for Israel that they have to go into Gaza where there are booby traps all over the place and tunnels all over the place...This is the most complicated mission a modern army has...[W]hat I suggest, you know, to the Israelis, that they wait. They take their time. They collect intelligence, and what I need from the United States to give in support, in fact, I would like to see the Navy SEALS taking part...We need to free Palestinians and free Gaza from Hamas".

.@JakeTapper: "What can you tell us about what motivates these people. What are they like? What are the leaders of Hamas like? What do they want?"

Mosab Hasan Yosef: "Well, they are a religious movement and this is what everybody is afraid to say. If Hamas was a political movement then we can satisfy their political ambition but Hamas is a religious movement that does not believe in political borders. You know, they want to establish an islamic state on the rubble of the state of Israel. They want to annihilate the Jewish people and the Jewish state. They want to kill everybody who support Israel then establish an Islamic state...They want to establish eventually an Islamic state, a global state...[T]he more power, you know, we give them, the more aggressive they are going to be...You know, in war, people die...Israel did not start it but Israel will end it."

CNN's @JakeTapper: "So, the United States insists that the aid being provided for civilians in Gaza will not go to Hamas...Do you believe that the aid will only go to the innocent Palestinians?

Yousef: "You know, the United States and Europe have been very generous with the Palestinian people but their leadership steal the money all the time. They steal the aid. So much aid came into Gaza, Hamas used all that aid to build tunnels under the ground and now look at the chaos they are creating...[W]e have to enforce unbreachable siege on Hamas...They are under the ground. They have hostages. We have to cut power. We cannot give them food. We cannot give them water and we have to deplete them...before we can even go in...[O]therwise we cannot win this war against this brutal enemy, enemy of humanity."

/END