IDF kills two Palestinians wanted for kidnapping, murdering three Jewish teens
The two wanted Palestinians who have been suspected of kidnapping and murdering three Jewish teenagers in Gush Etzion earlier this summer, were shot and killed by the IDF in an exchange of fire on Tuesday morning.
Before dawn on Tuesday, soldiers surrounded a house in Hebron where Marwan Kawasme and Amer Abu Aysha, the two main suspects in the kidnapping and murder, were holed up.
In the exchange of gunfire which ensued, both Palestinians were killed, according to the military.
Yeshiva students Gil-Ad Shaer,16, Eyal Yifrah, 19, and Naftali Fraenkel, 16, were kidnapped by terrorists late at night on June 12 from a hitchhiking post in Gush Etzion. They were found dead over two weeks later on June 30.
In June both Marwan Kawasme and Amar Abu Aysha were identified as suspects by the Shin Bet added, which added that both were wanted as soon as security forces learned of the kidnapping.
Marwan Kawasme, 29, a Hamas member and son of a family of Hamas members, had been arrested multiple times in the past for terrorist activities, including most recently in 2010, after being identified as a member of a Hamas terror cell which carried out an attack near Beit Hagai in 2010, in which four Israelis were murdered.
Amar Abu Aisha, 32, a Hebron-based Hamas member and son of a family of Hamas member, was in Israeli custody from 2005 to 2006 on suspicion of being involved in terrorism.
In August the homes of suspects, Amar Abu Aysh was demolished by combat engineers supported by Border Patrol officers. Security forces also sealed off a home belonging to suspect Marwan Kawasme.
Additionally, security forces arrested overnight Basher Kawasme and Ta’ar Kawasme, who are the sons of Arafat Kawasme, himself under arrest since July 14 on suspicion of assisting the murderers to hide after killing the three Israeli teens.
“In recent days, a number of Hamas operatives suspected of abetting the suspects have been arrested and taken to Shin Bet questioning,” the intelligence agency said. Two months ago, the Shin Bet arrested Hassam Kawasme, a Hamas operative who confessed to acting as the cell commander and securing the funding for the kidnap and murder from Hamas members in the Gaza Strip.
JPOST.COM
Marwan Kawasme and Amar Abu Aysha.
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