The latest Hamas kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers included another American citizen, Naftali Fraenkel, 16, one of many foreign citizens murdered by the terrorist organization that rules Gaza with an iron Islamic fist and is increasingly imposing its influence on the West Bank.
Since its founding in 1987, Hamas has claimed responsibility for thousands of attacks including suicide bombings, car bombings, rocket and mortar attacks, kidnappings, shootings and stabbings. In its quest to kill and maim as many Israeli civilians as it can, Hamas has also indiscriminately killed foreign nationals with no regret and no remorse.
The innocent victims of terror attacks include scores of citizens of the United States, Canada, Ecuador, Thailand, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, France, Germany, Italy, Holland, the UK, Philippines, Ghana, South Africa, Ethiopia, Eritrea, China and Thailand.
Israel, as a modern, Western country, attracts tourists, students and immigrants. Americans are the highest number of foreign victims of Hamas attacks. Most have been killed in suicide bombings. Of the many Hamas terror attacks that claimed dozens of American lives, three of the most heinous were:
August 2001 – Hamas and Islamic Jihad claims responsibility for a suicide bombing at the Sbarro pizza restaurant in Jerusalem, killing 15 people, including seven children and a pregnant woman. Among the dead are two American citizens, one Brazilian, and five Dutch dual-citizens, including four children aged 2, 8, 10 and 14.
July 2002 – A Hamas suicide bomber kills seven people at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem campus. The victims include five American students. Two of the injured die later, bringing the death toll to nine.
October 2003 – Terrorists bomb an American diplomatic convoy in the Gaza Strip, killing three U.S. embassy staff: John Branchizio, 37, Mark Parson, 31, and John Martin Linde, 30; another embassy employee is injured. While Hamas denies responsibility for the attack, it is the main group in Gaza using the type of roadside bomb used against the convoy.
Hamas leaders openly encourage their followers to carry out terror attacks. Before the bodies of the three teens were found on June 30, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said of the kidnappers: “We have to feel proud if it is proven that Palestinian factions kidnapped the three settlers for the liberation of all prisoners and detainees from Israeli jails.”