The two Hamas terrorists who murdered Israeli teens Naftali Frenkel, Eyal Yifrah and Gilad Sha'ar hy''d on June 12 and were shot dead in an exchange of fire with IDF forces in Hevron on Tuesday have been buried, in a funeral that quickly turned into a Hamas rally.
The terrorists, Marwan Kawasmeh and Amar Abu-Eisha, were laid to rest with some 3,000 local Arabs in attendance, with many waving flags of the terror organization Hamas of which the two were members of, reports AFP.
MK Ze'ev Elkin (Likud) said Tuesday that the IDF should hold on to the bodies of the two terrorists to use them as bargaining chips for obtaining the remains of IDF soldiers Lt. Hadar Goldin and Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul hy”d, who were killed in Operation Protective Edge. Evidently Israel decided not to follow Elkin's counsel, despite the fact that Hamas is demanding the release of hundreds of terrorists for the return of the soldiers' remains in the renewed ceasefire talks occurring in Cairo on Tuesday.
Following the death of the two terrorists, dozens of local Arab rioters hurled rocks at IDF soldiers, and afterwards a general strike was held throughout the city with ongoing attacks by Arab rioters on the IDF.
Hamas temporarily pulled out of the Cairo talks after learning about the death of the two Hamas murderers, pausing talks for two hours before returning. The terror group has since praised them as "martyrs."
Hamas also reportedly has accused the Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces for cooperating with the IDF in the crackdown on the murderers, claiming Israel couldn't have succeeded without the PA's help.
Meanwhile PA security chief Adnan al-Damiri accused Israel of "carrying out operations to kill and destroy houses."
Al-Damiri claimed his forces knew "nothing" about the terrorists who have been in hiding for over three months in PA held territory, nor "how the Israeli army was able to enter this area."
One anonymous Palestinian Arab negotiator told AFP that "the killing of the two youths in Hevron is causing a crisis, and could lead to the Palestinian delegation not attending indirect talks with the Israeli team," referring to the two hardened Hamas terrorists as "youths."
Meanwhile, parents of the murdered Israeli teenagers Eyal Yifrah, Gilad Sha'ar and Naftali Frenkel expressed their relief that their sons' killers had finally been tracked down.
Rachel Frenkel, the mother of murdered 16-year-old Naftali, told Galei Tzahal (IDF Radio) "I'm not all that sorry that I won't encounter their laughing faces in a courtroom," in reference to the terrorists.