Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of Islamic terror organisation Hamas’ founder Hassan Yousef, has said that Hamas’ last-minute ceasefire proposal is a trap.

“Israel should not fall into Hamas’s new trap unless the terror group commits to the release of ALL HOSTAGES and stepping down from power. This is a trick orchestrated by Hamas hosts, agents, and donors to prevent Israel from finishing 36 years of human tragedy at the expense of children and their future,” Yousef said in a post on X on Monday.

“I have to admit that Hamas’s move was very clever, however, Israel must outsmart them by demanding the release of all hostages in exchange for the Rafah invasion. Anything less than that could be a fatal mistake,” he added.

Earlier Yousef had said that Israel should not compromise its security because of “global pressure,” as the pressure was only temporary. “If we don’t end Hamas and remove them from power… we are going to have many other wars. This is not Hamas’s first attempt to take hostages and use civilians for human shields…We do not need to give Hamas one more opportunity to destabalize the region and create a major war like this,” Yousef said.

Meanwhile, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) took over the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing on Tuesday morning. The IDF said that since 7:00 AM (local time), troops from the 401st Brigade had attained full operational control of the crossing.

The IDF on Sunday targeted operation against Hamas in East Rafah, the military said, following intelligence information that terrorists were using the area for terror purposes.

Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said earlier on Monday night that the War Cabinet had agreed to continue with Israel’s planned Rafah operation.