Hussam Qawasme of Hebron was allegedly paid by terror group Hamas $61,500 dollars for masterminding the June 12 abduction and subsequent murder of Israeli teens Eyal Yifrah, Naftali Frenkel, and Gilad Sha’ar, according to a report that has been cleared for publication by Israel’s media censors.
The money made its way from Gaza to Hebron through Qawasame’s mother and another unidentified woman, according to the indictment. He then bought a vehicle and four weapons to carry out the attack.
Some point to the abduction and murder of the three Israeli teens as the ignition switch that sparked a 50-day war between Israel and Hamas. Israel lost 66 soldiers in battle, while Hamas’s casualties reached over 1,000 militants.
Qawasame, arrested on July 11 and charged with murdering the three teens, has a brother who is a well-known Hamas operative in the Gaza Strip, where the Muslim Brotherhood arm of the Palestinian movement rules with an iron fist. According to reports, Qawasame’s brother transferred the funds prior to executing the murderous plans.
Israel’s Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said that Qawasme was responsible for hiding the bodies of the three teens, stashing them away at a field he had previously purchased in the town of Halhul. The Shin Bet said in a statement, “In an intelligence operation launched by the Shin Bet, Hussam Qawasme was tracked down and arrested in a hideout in the Shuafat refugee camp… He is the son of a family whose sons have been involved in severe terror attacks on behalf of Hamas.”
Qawasame’s brother was formerly a prisoner in Israel who was freed as part of the deal reached when captured soldier Gilad Shalit was in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian terrorists.
The two men who actually carried out the innocent teens’ executions, Marwan Qawasme and Amer Abu Aisha, are believed to have fled the country.
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