IDF Convicts Leader of Israeli Teens’ Abduction, Murder
Hussam Hassan Kawasmeh, of Hevron, was convicted of planning andfinancing the teens’ murder, and he owned the plot of land in which the murdered teens’ bodies were discovered. Kawasmeh admitted to receiving funding from Hamas.
A joint arrest operation between the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and the police nabbed Hussam Hassan Kawasmeh in July.
Hussam’s interrogation revealed that he had played a fundamental part in the kidnapping, and served as its mastermind and overall coordinator. Among other things, he secured some 200,000 shekels from his Gaza-based brother and Hamas operative Mahmoud Kawasmeh to fund theattack, and used part of that money to purchase the car used in the abductions. That car was later found burned out near Hevron.
The money was also used to buy weapons – two pistols and two assault rifles – which were given to Marwan Kawasmeh prior to the attack. Hussam received those weapons from another Hamas terrorist in Hevron, Adnan Mohammed Azzat Zaro.
Also under interrogation, it was revealed that immediately after the murders Marwan went to Hussam, who helped him to take the bodies to a field the latter had purchased several month before in preparation for the killings. After burying the bodies in a shallow grave, he then helped two other killers – Marwan and Amar Abu-Eisha, who were eliminated by the Shin Bet in September – to find a place to hide.
