IDF arrests terrorist involved in 2014 kidnappings in Shifa hospital return
| Published date | 20 March 2024 |
| Author | YONAH JEREMY BOB |
| Publication title | Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel) |
Hussam was convicted based on his own confession of planning and financing the attack, including receiving NIS 200,000 from Hamas in Gaza, purchasing and providing weapons for the other terrorists, hiding the bodies, and destroying evidence.
The IDF Prosecution filed an indictment against Hussam with the Judea Military Court in September 2014.
The Shin Bet arrested him on July 11, 2014, on suspicion of assisting the killers and of hiding the victims' bodies in land he owned in Hebron, security forces said.
On June 12, 2014, Hamas members kidnapped Gil-Ad Sha'er, 16, Naftali Fraenkel, 16, and Eyal Yifrah, 19, as they waited for a ride outside the Alon Shvut settlement in Judea. The Shin Bet named the killers Marwan Kawasme and Amar Abu Aisha.
The two were killed in a shootout with the IDF near Hebron in September 2014.
Hussam, a resident of Hebron, was in Israeli prison from 1995 to 2002 after being convicted of involvement in Hamas terrorist offenses, including being part of a cell that carried out bomb attacks.
"He is the son of a family whose sons have been involved in severe terrorist attacks on behalf of Hamas," the domestic intelligence agency said at the time.
Hussam's brother Hassin Kawasme is serving a life sentence for his role in a bomb attack on a bus stop across from the Jerusalem International Convention Center in March 2011. Scottish tourist Mary Jane Gardner, 59, was killed in the attack, and 39 people were wounded.
His other brother was Mahmoud Kawasme, who had served a 20-year prison sentence for his role in a twin suicide bombing attack aboard buses in Beersheba in August 2004, which killed 16 residents of the city and wounded more than 100 people. However, Mahmoud was released as part of the Schalit exchange with Hamas and expelled to the Gaza Strip.
From Gaza, Mahmoud transferred funds to his brother in Hebron for the attack on the three teenagers.
"During questioning by the Shin Bet, and the questioning of others, it emerged that Hussam Kawasme served as a command level for the kidnapping," the Shin Bet said.
Sha'er's parents respond to IDF operation
Bat Galim and Ofir Sha'er welcomed the news of Kawasme's arrest. They said in response, "Justice has finally come to light, and the heroic IDF soldiers and all the security forces are doing it bravely."
"We do not deal with terrorists and...
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