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Hamas denies link to murders of Israeli students

A senior Palestinian officer working on the case of the murdered Israeli settlers said it was likely that they were killed shortly after being kidnapped.

Hamas' armed wing spokesman speaks during a news conference in Gaza City July 3, 2014. The spokesman said Israel was breaking the 2012 ceasefire agreement and the group would act according to developments on the ground. He said Israel would pay a heavy price in any upcoming war. Israel said on Thursday it was beefing up its forces along its frontier with the Gaza Strip, in what it called a defensive deployment in response to persistent Palestinian cross-border rocket attacks. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA -
Hamas' armed wing spokesman speaks during a news conference in Gaza City, July 3, 2014. — REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

Palestinians and Israelis have been living in uncertainty in the past three weeks following the murders of three Israeli settlers and Palestinian teenager Mohammed Abu Khdeir. The discovery of the bodies of the three Israeli boys has opened the door to further speculation as to what actually happened, for Israel insists Hamas was responsible, while Hamas continues to deny involvement.

Al-Monitor spoke with a senior Palestinian officer involved in coordination with his Israeli counterparts in the West Bank to answer lingering questions after the boys’ bodies were found and Hamas was accused of kidnapping and killing them. Some of these questions include: How did Israel find the teenagers? Why were they killed? When were they killed? Were they kidnapped to be used in an exchange deal, or were they kidnapped to be killed? Was Hamas’ leadership involved in the details of the operation, or did Hamas just issue general directives?

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