Hamas: We won’t ignore the abduction of ‘our sons’
Gaza terror group warns of response after 4 of its men were seized in Sinai, in suspected operation by Egypt
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Palestinian terror group Hamas has warned it will respond to the abduction of four of its members Wednesday night in the Sinai Peninsula.
The fighters from the Islamist group, which rules the Gaza Strip, were seized from a bus by gunmen as they traveled to Cairo airport from the Rafah Border Crossing between Gaza and Sinai. Egypt on Monday opened the border for four days for humanitarian purposes, allowing the passage of thousands of Palestinians between Gaza and Egypt. The crossing has since been closed.
The Times of Israel has learned that the four men were senior Hamas naval commandos who were heading overseas — apparently to Iran — for training. In Gaza, it is believed that the four were intercepted by Egyptian intelligence operatives, raising tensions between Hamas and Egypt.
“We will not overlook what happened to our sons in the Sinai,” the Hamas military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, said at a military procession in Rafah on Friday, Israeli website Ynet reported.
“We will maintain our silence and not talk too much, but al-Qassam has taught the world that its actions take precedence over words. At the right time, everyone will know that we speak the truth.”
According to reports on Hamas-affiliated websites, there were 50 passengers on the bus. When it had traveled about a kilometer from the crossing, two cars with plain-clothed armed men inside started chasing it. They stopped the bus and began examining the ID cards of all those on board.
When they saw the names of the four — Abd el-Da’im el-Basset, Said Abdallah Abu Jabin, Yasser Fathi Zanon and Hussein Hamis el-Dabda — they whisked them away to an unknown location.
The incident immediately made headlines, but the Egyptians claimed that the Sinai terror affiliate of Islamic State, Walayat Sinai (or Sinai Province), was to blame for the kidnapping. Hamas dismissed this claim, and Al-Jazeera quoted a Hamas source on Thursday asserting that Egyptian intelligence was responsible for the abduction.
Egypt has been closely monitoring the activities of the Hamas military wing in Gaza, and especially in the area bordering the Sinai, in light of information that the Hamas fighters have been working together with Islamic State-linked activists in the peninsula. Egypt is said to have intelligence indicating that Hamas fighters gather information on Egyptian Army movements in the area, and are working with IS to smuggle weaponry in and out of Gaza.
Avi Issacharoff contributed to this report
The Times of Israel Community.