Jerusalem – East Jerusalem Man Indicted For Allegedly Aiding Suspect In Kidnapping, Murder Of 3 Israeli Teens

Jerusalem – An east Jerusalem man was indicted on Tuesday on suspicion of helping hide one of the suspects in the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teens in the West Bank in June.

The indictment, presented to the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, accuses Wael Karameh, 43, of housing Hussam Kawasame, his cousin, in his home in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of ‘Anata for three days while he was on the run from Israeli security forces.

Kawasame is suspected of helping organize the kidnapping and securing funding from Hamas to buy weapons for the chief suspects, Amar Abu Aysha and Marwan Kawasme, both of whom remain at large. He is also suspected of helping bury the bodies of teenage yeshiva students Gil-Ad Shaeir, Eyal Yifrah, and Naftali Fraenkel, on a plot of land he bought months before, according to court documents.

Karameh is facing charges of aiding and abetting a fugitive and obstruction of justice. The indictment says that at some point between July 4th and 7th, days after the bodies were found on June 30th on Hussam’s land, Hussam arrived at Karameh’s house and asked to sleep there, saying he feared the ongoing Israeli arrest raids in his hometown of Hebron. The indictment said that Hussam, who usually wears a beard, showed up clean-shaven and told his cousin that Israeli security forces were searching for him and he needed to hide out.

The indictment said that the suspect let him stay until the 11th, when the house was raided by Israeli security forces, despite the fact that he knew he was a member of Hamas and a wanted fugitive.

Earlier in August, the IDF destroyed houses in the West Bank belonging to Hussam and the other two main suspects, both of which have still not been found.