GAZA CITY
Palestinian resistance faction Hamas on Monday denounced Israel's demolition of two houses in the West Bank city of Hebron on the pretext that the owners were responsible for kidnapping and killing three Jewish settlers near the city two months ago.
"Israel will be responsible for the consequences of the demolition of Palestinian homes in the West Bank," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement, adding that the self-proclaimed Jewish state "can't break the Palestinians' will."
Slamming the demolitions as "criminal," Abu Zuhri hailed the "heroic role" of the Qawasmeh and Abu Aisha families, both of which saw their homes razed by the Israeli army earlier Monday.
Eyewitnesses said that Israeli troops had destroyed the homes of Amer Abu Aisha and Hossam Qawasmeh, who Israeli authorities accuse of involvement in the kidnapping and killing in June of three teenage Jewish settlers.
Israeli troops also sealed off the house of Marwan Qawasmeh – also wanted in connection with the case – with cement.
Israeli authorities had earlier said that Hossam Qawasmeh was arrested in July on suspicions that he had led the group that killed the three settlers.
They further claimed that Qawasmeh had admitted to receiving funds from Hamas to recruit Omar Abu Aisha and Marwan Qawasmeh to help kidnap and kill the trio.
Hamas, for its part, dismissed the claims, saying they were "nothing but fabrications."
The Israeli government has repeatedly accused Hamas of kidnapping the three teens, who went missing from a Jewish-only settlement in the southern West Bank on June 12.
Since then, Israeli forces have detained some 1500 West Bank Palestinians – including several Hamas lawmakers and former cabinet ministers – against the backdrop of the settlers' disappearance.
Until now, no Palestinian group has claimed responsibility for the settlers' kidnapping and subsequent murder, nor has Israel produced any evidence of Palestinian involvement in the affair.
By Ola Attalah
englishnews@aa.com.tr
www.aa.com.tr/en
