Hamas refers to multiple ‘fighters’ in heaping praising for deadly attack

The Hamas terror group refers to multiple people who carried out the terror attack that killed a religious seminary student, whose body was found this morning outside a settlement in the Gush Etzion area, describing it as “heroic.”

The body of Dvir Sorek, 19, was discovered in the predawn early morning hours, bearing stabbing marks, the Israel Defense Forces said, adding that he was killed in a terror attack.

“We salute our people’s heroic fighters who carried out the heroic operation that killed a soldier in the occupation’s army, who was studying at a military college known for graduating extremists who hold Talmud- and Torah-based beliefs that support killing our people and seizing its lands,” the Hamas terror group says in a statement, stopping short of taking responsibility for the killing.

Sorek studied at the Machanayim yeshiva in the Migdal Oz settlement as part of a military program known in Hebrew as hesder. Though formally a soldier, Sorek was unarmed and not in uniform at the time of the attack, nor had he yet undergone military training.

Sorek was missing since yesterday evening. He was last seen leaving Migdal Oz for Jerusalem to buy books.

Earlier, the Islamic Jihad terror group said: “The heroic operation is a natural response to the occupation’s terrorism and crimes at the expense of our people, land and holy sites. It is the right of our people to push back against the destruction and demolition of citizens’ homes in Wadi Hummus, a crime that requires a painful and deterring response.”

— with Adam Rasgon