The IDF has arrested over 80 Hamas terrorists overnight in Yehuda and Shomron as part of the wide-scale operation to find three missing yeshiva students, according to the IDF.
According to a military source, as quoted by Channel 10, several of the arrested were reportedly members of the “unity” government sworn in earlier this month. The source also indicated that a large number of paratroopers and Nahal brigade soldiers had been dispatched in the region.
IDF forces raided hundreds of houses in Chevron Jenin, Ramallah and other cities overnight. At least one of the terrorists arrested by IDF forces was apparently Hassan Yousef, a senior Hamas official.
The three teenagers – Eyal Yifrah, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Frenkel, 16 – were last seen on Thursday night near Gush Etzion before they were kidnapped by the Palestinian terrorists.
Following the abduction, the IDF and Israeli security forces in Yehuda and Shomron conducted a widespread operation to find the kidnappers. Last night, security forces arrested 80 suspects in Hebron. מבצע חברון
IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Moti Almoz said the current mission is to bring the three Israeli teenagers home safely and as soon as possible. “We are concentrating all of our intelligence efforts on trying to track down the missing individuals.”
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz discussed the kidnapping publicly at a press conference Saturday night. “All of the IDF’s units have operated in close cooperation with Israel’s security organizations: the ISA (Shin Bet Security Service), the Israel Police and the Border Police,” the Chief of Staff said. “Under the guidance of Israel’s political leadership, the government, and the Defense Minister, we have operated for two days in growing scope and wherever needed.”
“We will continue to do what’s necessary to bring this incident to an end as quickly as possible,” Lt. Gen. Gantz stressed. “We will keep a close eye on events in Israel’s various sectors – in Gaza and in the North – even as these events unfold. We remain determined to achieve our operational objectives, and will act with responsibility, calm and determination to accomplish whatever is required of us.”
{Matzav.com Israel News Bureau}
