Video: IDF Soldiers Arrest Senior Hamas Official

[media id=1817 width=400 height=300] The IDF released video footage today showing the overnight arrest of one of the founders of Hamas, Hassan Yousef, as Israel searched for leads on the whereabouts of three teenagers abducted at the end of last week.

Yousef was among more than 80 Palestinian arrested across the West Bank including former ministers and members of the Palestinian parliament.

In the video clip IDF paratroopers can be seen knocking on the door of the Yousef family home to gain entry and then escorting the suspect out to a waiting vehicle.

Lieutenant Uri Shapira of the Nachal Brigade, who commanded the arrest operation, explains in the video that his unit was tasked with arresting three suspects, the second on whom was Yousef.

Shapira’s troops conducted a sweep of the building before moving on to seek out a third suspect.

The arrests came as part of a massive search to find the three teenagers – Eyal Yifrach, 19, Gil-ad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Frenkel, 19 – who were abducted on Thursday night as they hitchhiked near Chevron.

Today, Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu said that Israel knows “for a fact” that Hamas was responsible for the kidnappings. Secretary of State John Kerry also said initial indications pointed toward the Gaza-based movement’s involvement.

Yousef is known as the father of Mosab Hassan Yousef, a Hamas defector who turned against the organization and converted to Christianity, going public about his experiences in a book, and more recently a film, “The Green Prince.”

Read more: The Times of Israel

{Matzav.com Israel}