The kidnapping of three teenagers in Israel, including one that has U.S. citizenship, is becoming more evident the action of the terrorist group Hamas.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is speaking out about the incident, saying that “many indications point to Hamas’ involvement” in the kidnapping.
“The United States strongly condemns the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers and calls for their immediate release,” Kerry said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with their families. We continue to offer our full support for Israel in its search for the missing teens, and we have encouraged full cooperation between the Israeli and Palestinian security services. We understand that cooperation is ongoing.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the government has confirmed Hamas’ involvement and they are placing responsibility for the kidnapping on the new Palestinian government of Mahmoud Abbas because they are backed by Hamas.
Hamas, while not making a claim to responsibility, praised the kidnappings and said as a group they “pay tribute to the heroes who are behind the kidnapping.”
Israeli soldiers are searching the West Bank after three teenagers, one of them an American, went missing from nearby settlements.
Authorities believe that Palestinians abducted the teens. Military officials, while refusing to officially confirm the position of many government officials, made a terse comment about the situation.
“The main mission is to ensure their return,” Brig. Gen. Motti Almoz told reports.
The three teens reportedly were heading home from working late at their Yeshiva and have not been seen since they left. The abduction comes on the heels of a new Palestinian government that the Israelis say has been controlled by the terrorist group Hamas.
Hamas routinely conducts kidnapping of Israelis as part of their terror campaign.
A new crisis between Israel and its closest ally is developing because of the Obama Administration’s glowing support for a Hamas-supported government in Palestine.
Several key Israeli officials expressed their anger publicly concerning the U.S. State Department saying they are willing to work with the new Palestinian unity government that was built with the help of Hamas. Even U.S. officials identify Hamas as a terrorist group yet the State Department ignored that in their endorsement of the new government.
“I have to say I do not understand this American announcement,” said Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz. “You cannot present it as a Hamas government internally, then present it publically as a government of technocrats. If these (ministers) are people who identify with Hamas, Hamas identifies with them and appointed them, then they are representatives of Hamas. This is a Hamas government, and Hamas is a terror organization.”
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki tried to avoid reporter’s questions about Hamas’ intimate involvement with the new Palestinian coalition.
“At this point, it appears that president Abbas has formed an interim technocratic government that does not include ministers affiliated with Hamas,” she said. “With what we know now, we will work with this government.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly was “betrayed and deceived” by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry who told him that the U.S. would not recognize the new government immediately but then did so within five hours.
The Hamas government in Gaza held a celebration for 13,000 teenagers that have been trained to be terrorist suicide bombers.
Students from grades 10-12 were put into a one-week camp separated by gender. They were all trained in the techniques of Hamas terrorists and how to execute a successful suicide attack on Israeli forces.
Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, Interior Minister Fathi Hammad and Education Minister Usama Mzeini all gave speeches praising the “new generation of Palestinian combatants.”
“Beware this generation,” Haniyeh said during a portion of the speech targeting Israel. “This is a generation which knows no fear. It is the generation of the missile, the tunnel and the suicide operations.”
The Hamas leaders made multiple references to a coming war with Israel.
Hamas Islamists in the Gaza Strip have taken responsibility for a mile and a half long tunnel that ran under the border between Israel and Gaza.
According to a report on a Hamas radio station website, the group’s armed wing claimed the tunnel. Abu Ubaida, spokesman for the Islamic terror group’s military wing, said in an interview that Hamas’ armed brigades built the tunnel and were responsible for maintaining its operation.
Ubaida claimed the reason for the tunnel was to try and force Israel to release Hamas prisoners. The plot was similar to a 2006 military style operation where the terrorists kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit using a border tunnel. Israel released over 1400 Hamas inmates to obtain the release of Shalit.
The tunnel raised concern in Israel because it had been reinforced with concrete supports. Israel had recently lifted the ban on transporting construction materials into the Gaza Strip amid international pressure over the blockade. Israel had claimed they restricted the transport of materials because Islamic terrorists would use the materials to build fortified bases and weapons.
Al-Jazeera, the middle eastern based news organization which recently opened a U.S. cable channel, is the affiliate of one of four television stations shut down by the Egyptian government.
The court said the stations were sympathetic to the terrorist groups Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. Continue reading →
Hamas held press conference Monday to condemn the peace talks between Palestinians and Israelis.
“We renew our rejection of these futile talks, and consider them purely a means for (Israel) to look good to the international community,” Hamas officials Mahmoud al-Zahar said. “We call on the Palestinian people to unite in confronting the crime that is the peace talks.” Continue reading →
Israeli security forces killed two Hamas terrorists in a an air strike according to Palestinian officials. The air strike occurred in Rafah on the Egyptian border.
Israel said the two men were part of a group in “a very advanced stage of planning” of major terror attack on the nation. It’s the second strike by Israeli forces against Hamas terrorist cells in the last two weeks. Continue reading →
Hamas admitted to an attack against Israel involving rockets and mortars. Hamas usually denies making attacks on Israel but spokesman Fawzi Barhoum claimed the attacks were in response to Israeli strikes.
Hamas had initially blamed Israel for the death of a two-year-old girl in Gaza stating she died from an Israeli air strike. It was later shown that she actually died during a botched rocket attack by Hamas. Continue reading →
Leaders of Islamic Jihad and Hamas are advocating a campaign of kidnapping to free terrorists jailed in Israel.
Khaled Al-Batsh, senior member of Islamic Jihad, told a crowd in the Gaza Strip they needed to take Israeli prisoners in an attempt to gain release from prison of terrorists connected to their organization.
“I say to all armed factions, the way to free the prisoners is through swaps…an arrest for an arrest and freedom for freedom. This is the way,” Al-Batsh told the crowd according to the Jerusalem Post. Continue reading →
