IDF Soldier Kidnapped, Two Killed as Hamas Breaks Ceasefire

An IDF soldier was abducted by Hamas Friday morning when the terrorist group violated a 72-hour ceasefire that began just over an hour earlier. Two soldiers were killed.

An IDF soldier was abducted and two were killed by Hamas just over an hour after the implementation of a 72-hour ceasefire at 8 a.m. Friday morning.

At approximately 09:30 a.m,. an attack was executed against IDF forces operating to decommission a terror tunnel.

The two casualties are Major Benaya Sarel, 26, from Kiryat Arba, and Staff Sergeant Liel Godoni, 20, from Jerusalem.

The kidnapped soldier is Second Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, 23, of Kfar Saba in central Israel. He is reportedly a relative of Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe ‘Bogie’ Yaalon.

The IDF is currently conducting intelligence efforts and extensive searches and in order to locate the missing soldier.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with US Secretary of State John Kerry Friday afternoon and told him that despite his joint statement with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, according to which assurances had been received from Hamas and the other terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip regarding a ceasefire from 8 a,m., the Palestinians had unilaterally and grossly violated the humanitarian ceasefire and attacked the IDF soldiers after 9 a.m.

Netanyahu told Kerry that Hamas and the other terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip will bear the consequences of their actions and that Israel would take all necessary steps against those who call for Israel’s destruction and perpetrate terrorism against its citizens.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest acknowledged on CNN that Hamas had used the ceasefire as cover to attack Israeli soldiers.

“That would be a rather barbaric violation of the ceasefire agreement. Hamas is entirely responsible for upholding their end of the bargain, and it’s apparent that they did not do that,” Earnest stated.

With files from the IDF News Desk and Government Press Office

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