Abbas criticizes Hamas for taking responsibility for kidnapping the 3 Israeli teens
Official PA TV interviewed Mahmoud Abbas about the kidnapping and murder of the three Israeli teens in June 2014:
“After the kidnapping was carried out we met with punishments we had never known before, for no reason. The destruction, the murders – and the most famous murder was that of Muhammad Abu Khdeir and other children. Alright, who carried out [the kidnapping]? Israel says Hamas. We say we have no proof [of this] whatsoever, we have no proof. We tell them [Israel]: ‘We don’t believe you. We have no information [proving] that Hamas did this.’ I asked [Hamas officials]: ‘Did you carry out [the kidnapping]?’ They said no. I said: ‘Great. In that case, it’s not them!’ Then, the honorable gentleman Saleh Al-Arouri surprised [us] in a speech. He said: ‘We kidnapped them to start a revolution, an Intifada, in the West Bank…’ Alright, I was surprised. I was informed that Al-Arouri said this. I told them : ‘My friends, my information from the most senior official, from the head of the [Hamas] Political Bureau [Khaled Mashaal] [was] that they [Hamas] had nothing to do with this.’ But then Khaled Mashaal came and said they had carried out [the kidnapping], but not following a top-down decision (i.e., not a decision made by Hamas leadership). An operation of this kind not carried out according to a top-down decision? It would have been better for you [Mashaal] to keep quiet, or for your man [Al-Arouri] to keep quiet.”
Note: On June 12, 2014, Israeli teens Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar and Naftali Frenkel were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists while they were hitchhiking. The boys' bodies were found by Israeli security forces near Hebron on June 30, 2014. They appeared to have been shot to death soon after the abduction. Two days later, Palestinian teen Muhammad Abu Khdeir was kidnapped and murdered in Jerusalem in a revenge attack by Israeli extremists. Following this murder, Palestinians took to the streets of eastern Jerusalem in violent and continuous protests. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli ministers immediately condemned the revenge killing in the strongest terms. Israeli police arrested six Israeli suspects on July 6th; under interrogation, three of the suspects confessed to murdering Khdeir.
“After the kidnapping was carried out we met with punishments we had never known before, for no reason. The destruction, the murders – and the most famous murder was that of Muhammad Abu Khdeir and other children. Alright, who carried out [the kidnapping]? Israel says Hamas. We say we have no proof [of this] whatsoever, we have no proof. We tell them [Israel]: ‘We don’t believe you. We have no information [proving] that Hamas did this.’ I asked [Hamas officials]: ‘Did you carry out [the kidnapping]?’ They said no. I said: ‘Great. In that case, it’s not them!’ Then, the honorable gentleman Saleh Al-Arouri surprised [us] in a speech. He said: ‘We kidnapped them to start a revolution, an Intifada, in the West Bank…’ Alright, I was surprised. I was informed that Al-Arouri said this. I told them : ‘My friends, my information from the most senior official, from the head of the [Hamas] Political Bureau [Khaled Mashaal] [was] that they [Hamas] had nothing to do with this.’ But then Khaled Mashaal came and said they had carried out [the kidnapping], but not following a top-down decision (i.e., not a decision made by Hamas leadership). An operation of this kind not carried out according to a top-down decision? It would have been better for you [Mashaal] to keep quiet, or for your man [Al-Arouri] to keep quiet.”
Note: On June 12, 2014, Israeli teens Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar and Naftali Frenkel were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists while they were hitchhiking. The boys' bodies were found by Israeli security forces near Hebron on June 30, 2014. They appeared to have been shot to death soon after the abduction. Two days later, Palestinian teen Muhammad Abu Khdeir was kidnapped and murdered in Jerusalem in a revenge attack by Israeli extremists. Following this murder, Palestinians took to the streets of eastern Jerusalem in violent and continuous protests. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli ministers immediately condemned the revenge killing in the strongest terms. Israeli police arrested six Israeli suspects on July 6th; under interrogation, three of the suspects confessed to murdering Khdeir.