Might be surprised- Turns Out Hamas Likely Didn’t Kidnap and Kill the 3 Israeli Teens After All [View all]

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Last edited Sat Jul 26, 2014, 02:24 AM - Edit history (1)

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. . . the three Israeli teens whose killings gave Netanyahu pretext to attack and invade Gaza.

from Katie Zavadski at the New York Magazine:

When the bodies of three Israeli teenagers, kidnapped in the West Bank, were found late last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not mince words. "Hamas is responsible, and Hamas will pay," he said, initiating a campaign that eventually escalated into the present conflict in the region.

But now, officials admit the kidnappings were not Hamas's handiwork after all.

BuzzFeed writer Sheera Frenkel was among the first to suggest that it was unlikely that Hamas was behind the deaths of Gilad Shaar, Naftali Frenkel, and Eyal Yifrach. Citing Palestinian sources and experts the field, Frenkel reported that kidnapping three Israeli teens would be a foolish move for Hamas. International experts told her it was likely the work of a local group, acting without concern for the repercussions:

Gershon Baskin pointed out that Hamas has earlier this month signed an agreement to form a unity government with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, bridging, for the first time in seven years, the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank and Gaza.

“They will lose their reconciliation agreement with Abbas if they do take responsibility for the kidnappings,” Baskin added.

Today, she was proven right:

After Israel's top leadership exhaustively blamed Hamas for kidnap of 3 teens, they've now admitted killers were acting as "lone cell."

read more: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/07/hamas-didnt-kidnap-the-israeli-teens-after-all.html?mid=twitter_nymag


from Dell Cameron (Daily Dot) on July 25, 2014

The recent explosion of violence in Gaza may have been initially sparked by false or inaccurate claims, according to Israeli police.

The ongoing conflict began last month when three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped from a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank. Their bodies were later discovered in a field outside the city of Hebron. Before police were able to determine who was responsible, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu placed blame for the tragic deaths squarely on Hamas, Gaza’s elected political leadership—an accusation that may prove to be false.

On Friday, Chief Inspector Micky Rosenfeld, foreign press spokesman for the Israel Police, reportedly told BBC journalist Jon Donnisonhe that the men responsible for murders were not acting on orders of Hamas leadership. Instead, he said, they are part of a “lone cell.” Further, Inspector Rosenfeld told Donnison that if Hamas’ leadership had ordered the kidnapping, “they'd have known about it in advance.”

If the reported findings of the Israeli Police hold up and Hamas is officially cleared of any wrongdoing in the case of the three kidnapped Israeli teens, Netanyahu and the Israeli government may have to explain why a massive military operation, with an 80 percent rate of civilian casualties, was instigated under a false premise. And if violence in the West Bank continues to spread, the IDF may find itself divided on two fronts.

read: http://www.dailydot.com/politics/israel-gaza-kidnap-false-inaccurate/

related:

Sheera Frenkel ‏@sheeraf 15h
My story @Buzzfeed 1month ago, in which Israeli officers say Hamas not behind the kidnap/killing of 3 Israeli teens: http://www.buzzfeed.com/sheerafrenkel/who-was-behind-the-kidnapping-of-three-israeli-teens-and-why …


*update*: Jon Donnison ‏@JonDonnison. the BBC reporter who is the source for the story (Donnison claims Chief Inspector Micky Rosenfeld gave him the info) has at least one controversy associated with his reporting. A watchdog site called BBC Watch says Donnison tweeted a photo he said was in Gaza which turned out to be from Syria. Not exactly a scandal, but some might make something out of it to discredit this report - so, full disclosure and all that.

here's his apology for the mistake:



. . . seems straightforward to me and not something that should necessarily speak to his credibility, but hey, folks will talk. Anyway . . .