Ex-Hamas insider urges Israelis to launch counter-flotilla against Gaza activists

In another message, he warned that the Gaza-bound flotilla was designed to provoke Israel into a confrontation that could spark international condemnation.

By Pesach Benson, TPS

Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of a senior Hamas leader who later became an Israeli intelligence asset, has called on Israelis to mount a counter-flotilla in response to an international effort to break the blockade of Gaza.

Yousef, who once worked undercover for the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) has since become a vocal advocate for Israel abroad, issued his appeal over the weekend in a series of fiery social media posts.

“Listen up, Israeli boat owners—sea wolves, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters,” he wrote.

“Fifty boats draped in fake flags, packed with terrorist sympathizers, sail to slander us while our hostages rot. This isn’t a protest; it’s a thunderclap. We don’t debate. We sail.”

Yousef urged citizens to join together in “a blue-and-white wall for the hostages, for every Israeli still breathing,” while stressing that participation should be coordinated with the Navy and remain within designated zones. “No ramming, just presence,” he emphasized.

In another message, he warned that the Gaza-bound flotilla was designed to provoke Israel into a confrontation that could spark international condemnation.

“Their money, their boats, their chaos—all to throw Hamas a lifeline,” he said. “Our outrage answers theirs.”

Most notable among the participants is Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who was deported in June following a similar effort to break the Gaza blockade aboard one boat. Israeli officials dismissed that effort as a “selfie yacht.”

Israel and Egypt have maintained restrictions on Gaza to prevent weapons smuggling since Hamas seized control of the Strip in 2007. Since then, Palestinian activists have periodically launched flotillas to challenge the blockade.

In 2011, an independent UN inquiry into the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident criticized Israeli forces for using excessive force but upheld the blockade’s legality.

Yousef, now 47, was born in Ramallah and became involved in Hamas activities as a youth, and was viewed as an eventual successor to his father, Sheikh Hassan Yousef.

But while in Israel’s Megiddo Prison during his early adulthood, Mosab began to question Hamas’s ideology and tactics and became disillusioned with Hamas’s extremism.

He accepted an offer by the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) to become an informer on condition that Israel would try to arrest, not kill, the targets of his intelligence tips.

As the son Sheikh Yousef, Mosab was privy to many Hamas plans. For around one decade, the intelligence he provided the Shin Bet foiled numerous suicide bombing attacks and assassination attempts, and exposed terror cells. Within the Shin Bet, he was referred to as “The Green Prince.”

Shortly after the October 7 attacks, Mosab Yousef called on Israel to assassinate his father if Hamas refused to release the hostages.

The flotilla, numbering about 50 vessels, is currently being escorted by Italian and Spanish naval ships, with Greek media reporting Turkish drone surveillance of its progress.

Organizers say they intend to deliver aid directly to Gaza, rejecting Israel’s offer to transfer cargo through Ashkelon or via Cyprus.

It remains unclear how the confrontation will unfold once the ships approach Israeli waters. Israel insists it will not permit direct access to Gaza’s coastline.

Approximately 1,200 people were killed and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 48 remaining hostages, about 20 are believed to be alive.