Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that forthcoming evidence would implicate Hamas in the abductions, as the search continued through the weekend for three Israeli teenagers kidnapped earlier this month: He insisted that the government had “unequivocal proof” that the kidnapping was Hamas’s doing, and that he had provided it to...

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More than a week after three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped, observers are focusing on the increasingly strained ties between Hamas, the terror group that is believed to be behind last week’s abduction, and Fatah, the rival faction with whom Hamas entered into a unity agreement last month. Veteran Arab affairs...

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Suspicions that Hamas was behind last week’s kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers deepened Thursday, with an Israeli security official naming Saleh al-Arouri, the founder of Hamas’s armed wing in the West Bank, as  a key figure behind the abductions: The official claimed al-Arouri, who used to live in a village...

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U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro visited the parents of 16-year-old Naftali Fraenkel, the Israeli high school student who was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists along with two other Israeli teenagers. The Fraenkels hold dual Israeli-American citizenship. Shapiro said he “offered the strong support of the US government, our people, and...

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On Thursday, Times of Israel reporter Avi Issacharoff quoted an unnamed Israeli security official blaming Saleh al-Arouri, a Hamas operative now living in Turkey, for orchestrating the kidnappings last week of Naftali Fraenkel, Gil-ad Shaer and Eyal Yifrach. Issacharoff reports: According to the unnamed official, Saleh al-Arouri — a former...

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Journalists on Wednesday worried that last week’s abduction of three Israeli teenagers risks triggering a full-blown conflict in the region. American, Israeli, and Fatah figures have all emphasized indications linking Hamas to the abductions. Veteran Arab affairs journalist Avi Issacharoff on Wednesday conveyed sentiments that Gaza residents are preparing for...

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Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon vowed on Tuesday to make Hamas “pay a heavy price” for the kidnapping of teenagers Eyal Yifrach, Gil-ad Shaar, and Naftali Fraenkel. The Times of Israel reported on the defense minister’s comments: “Hamas in Judea and Samaria will pay a heavy price for the kidnapping,”...

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While in Saudi Arabia yesterday, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas issued an unequivocal condemnation of the kidnapping of Eyal Yifrach, Gil-ad Shaar and Naftali Fraenkel. The Palestinian leader also expressed fear that the kidnappers wanted “to destroy [the PA].” The Jerusalem Post reports: “These three boys are human beings like us, and...

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Officials from the Fatah faction of Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas have spent recent days openly lashing out against the rival Hamas faction as evidence continued to emerge – acknowledged by the Americans, by the Israelis, and by Fatah officials themselves – that the terror group was linked to...

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Israeli authorities on Monday expanded their search for three teenagers thought to have been abducted by terrorists last week, as Israeli and U.S. officials converged on the assessment that elements from the Palestinian Hamas faction – which recently came together with its long-time rivals in the Fatah faction to agree to a...

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