Hamas, Islamic Jihad praise killing of 19-year-old Jewish student

Two Palestinian terror groups praised the killing of the Jewish yeshiva student on Thursday. 

By World Israel News Staff

Islamic Jihad and Hamas praised the killing of an IDF soldier and yeshiva student on Thursday with both terror groups calling it “heroic.”

Islamic Jihad praised the stabbing attack as “heroic and sending an important message.”

Hamas said, “We congratulate our people for the heroic action in which the soldier was killed. We call on the PA and the security forces to stop the security coordination. Armed struggle in the [West] Bank is noble. Our people will sacrifice what’s most dear to them to defend their land and Jerusalem.”

Dvir Sorek, 19, was found stabbed to death on the roadside near the yeshiva in Gush Etzion where he studied. Israel Defense Forces are currently carrying out intensive searches to find the killers. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would catch those responsible.

Both groups claimed the killing was in response to Israel’s demolition of buildings on the security fence with Israel in Jerusalem. Israel pulled down 13 structures on July 22 that were considered a security risk in an operation approved by Israel’s Supreme Court.

Neither group took credit for the killing. However, Hamas has been actively building terror cells in Judea and Samaria. The IDF revealed on Tuesday that it had broken up a Hamas bomb-making cell in Hebron last June.

Ma’ariv reports several Hamas cells have been discovered in Judea and Samaria whose goal is to recruit Hamas activists for terror attacks.

A senior member of Israel’s Shin Bet said that, “The military arm of the terror group Hamas in the Gaza Strip continues to invest great efforts into establishing a terror infrastructure in Judea and Samaria with the goal of carrying out attacks in Israeli territory.”