Speaking at a conference of Muslim clerics in Turkey Wednesday, Saleh al-Arouri, a senior Hamas leader and the founder of the organization’s military wing, admitted that his group was behind kidnapping and killing Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaer, and Eyal Yifrah. “It was an operation by your brothers from the al-Qassam Brigades,” he said.
This is the first time Hamas has publicly accepted responsibility for the June kidnapping, which many see as the catalyst behind the current round of violence in Gaza.
Earlier this month Israel stated that its investigations confirmed that Hamas funded and orchestrated the kidnapping of the three teens.
Finally, it seems, the two sides agree on something.
Stephanie Butnick is chief strategy officer of Tablet Magazine, co-founder of Tablet Studios, and a host of the Unorthodox podcast.
