Hussam al-Qawasme, thought to be the ringleader of the Hamas cell that executed the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers June 9, has been arrested by the IDF.
Information about the July 11 arrest was first released for publication on August 5.
The arrest was made by Yamam, the IDF counter-terror unit, based on information secured by the Shin Bet. al-Qawasme was arrested near Jerusalem at the home of a family member in ‘Anata, and admitted receiving funds from Hamas operatives in the Gaza Strip.
Two additional fugitives, his brother Marwan al-Qawasme, and Amar Abu-Eisha remain at large.
Marwan al-Qawasme, 29, is thought to be the brother of Hussam. Amer abu Aisha, 33, has a long police record. All are Hamas activists from Hebron. The three are the prime suspects in the kidnapping and murder of Eyal Yifrah, Gil-Ad Shaer and Naftali Frenkel June 12. Hussam is thought to be the ringleader of the Hamas backed terror cell.
The kidnapped teens abducted and murdered while heading home from school in Gush Etzion. Following the discovery of their bodies in a field Houssam Kawasmeh had purchased two months before the kidnapping, the suspect immediately went into hiding, hoping to reach Jordan using forged documents.
Immediately after the murder, Housman is thought to have hidden his two accomplices, Marwan Kawasmeh and Amar Abu-Eisha, at his home. They remain at large. Houssam Kawasmeh has admitted purchasing the equipment used for the operation. He has also admitted to driving to the plot of land he had purchased two months earlier and assisting with the burial of the bodies in a shallow grave. Hossam continued to hide his two accomplices who kidnapped and murdered the Israeli teenagers in Gush Etzion.
The three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped from a bus stop in Gush Etzion, in the West Bank, while attempting to hitchhike to their homes at the conclusion of the school week Naftali Frenkel (16, from Nof Ayalon), Gilad Shaer (16, from Talmon), and Eyal Yifrah (19, from Elad).Shaer was able to place an emergency call to a police emergency hotline and reported the kidnapping. Although information about the emergency call soon leaked to the press and public, although the recording was initially placed under an official gag order.
“They kidnapped me,” whispered Gilad Shaer. His words were followed by shouting in Arabic and the sound of automatic gunfire.
The kidnapping quickly gave rise to the IDF’s Operation Brother’s Keeper, the search and recovery operation that eventually located the bodies of the three teenagers. During the search, over 350 Palestinians, including most of the West Bank’s Hamas activists, were arrested in 11 days that followed. Hamas initially denied involvement, claiming that the crime was the action of a “lone cell.”
By June 26, the identities of two of the Hamas-connected suspects were announced by the Israeli Security Authority. Both the ISA and Palestinian authorities acknowledged that the two announced suspects had been missing since the night of the kidnapping, and noted that both had a history of terrorist activity. Sources say their disappearance was considered to be confirmation of their participation.
By Maxine Dovere
