Jerusalem: The son of one of the founders of Hamas has accepted spying for Israel`s Shin Bet internal intelligence agency, according to the latest news report.
Mosab Yousef said that he gathered information about Hamas terrorist plots for 10 years and transferred them to Israel.
In an interview, Yousef said that he did it because he came to believe that Hamas was practicing "exceptional cruelty" against its members and "killed people for no reason."
Yousef has now written a book, "Son of Hamas" detailing his exploits from his new base in the United States where he has been living since 2007.
Meanwhile, Israel has refused to comment on the revelations by Yousef.
Yousef reportedly told CNN, that, "They offered me to work for them. My goal was to be a double agent and attack them from the inside."
"After I was tortured by Shin Bet I was transferred to prison where Hamas tortured its own members and I became confused who was really my enemy so I accepted to meet Shin Bet."
Yousef also said, "My people did not understand this. Shin Bet is committed to a constitution but Hamas targets civilians. There`s a difference between targeting terrorists and civilians."
He added, "As a Shin Bet agent, when I had information I helped arrest people, otherwise they hit randomly. When I specified a particular person I had a condition - not to kill that person.”
"In 10 years working for Shin Bet I am not responsible for killing one terrorist. I care about my people, my problem was their ideology.
His father, Sheikh Yousef, is serving time in an Israeli prison. He recently wrote a letter from jail saying that the whole family "inclusively and exhaustively denounce our eldest son."
According to extracts of an article, Israeli agents were able to prevent dozens of attacks thanks to the help of Mosab Yousef.
The information led to the arrests of Ibrahim Hamid, once the movement`s military chief in the West Bank, and Abdullah Barghuti, the bomb maker behind an infamous 2001 suicide attack on a Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem.
He was also said to have played a role in the arrest of Marwan Barghuti, a senior Fatah leader considered the architect of the 2000 intifada, or uprising.
The two Barghutis are not closely related.
Yousef was known by his Shin Bet handlers as "The Green Prince".
Senior Hamas leader Ismail Radwan rejected the report, calling it "baseless slander" aimed at the elder Yousef.
"Everyone knows what Hamas is and who its leaders are... The leader Hassan Yousef is known for his history and his struggle against the Israeli occupation," he said in a statement.
The investigation has also led to credit cards used by 14 of the suspects. The issuing bank -- META BANK -- was also identified in the US. The cards were used to book hotel rooms and pay for air travel.
Dubai Police General Command stressed that all the suspects will be pursued to stand trial for this crime as the evidence shows their involvement in preparations, planning, logistics, surveillance, technical support and the actual killing of Al Mabhouh.
British passport holders have been named as Daniel Marc Schnur, Gabriella Barney, Roy Allan Cannon, Stephen Keith Drake, Mark Sklur and Philip Carr while Irish passports holders are Ivy Brinton, Anna Shuana Clasby and Chester Halvey.
French passport holders are David Bernard LaPierre, Melenie Heard and Eric Rassineux and Australians are Bruce Joshua Daniel, Nicole Sandra Mccabe and Adam Korman.
The Dubai Police said earlier this week that the 11-member hit squad which killed the senior Hamas leader here last month used diplomatic passports to execute the killing.
It also said it has strong evidence to implicate Israeli intelligence agency Mossad in the assassination of Al Mabhouh.
With PTI inputs
