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West Bank search intensifies for kidnapped Israeli youngsters
The operation to find the three kidnapped Israeli teenagers entered a fifth day today as the IDF continued to conduct searches and make arrests throughout the West Bank.
The three missing youngsters, Eyal Yifrah, 19, Gilad Shaer, 16 and Naftali Frenkel, 16, disappeared on Thursday night while hitchhiking in the Gush Etzion area of the West Bank. Israeli forces have converged on the West Bank since Friday morning. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has held Hamas responsible for the abduction. Following a round of arrests of mostly Hamas affiliates including senior officials on Saturday night, a further 41 Hamas members were arrested last night.
The Israeli operation has focused on Hebron, which is close to where the kidnapping took place and from where two known Hamas members have gone conspicuously missing. However, the operation was widened to other areas of the West Bank yesterday, with Israel Radio reporting that Nablus was a particular target. Clashes between IDF soldiers and Palestinian were reported last night near Ramallah and Bayt Umar, north of Hebron.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a rare conversation yesterday with Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas, to discuss the kidnapping. Netanyahu has heavily criticised Abbas for recently entering into a unity agreement with Hamas, which remains committed to violent struggle against Israel. However, PA forces are helping Israel with the search for the three teenagers.
Netanyahu also addressed the nation alongside Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon and IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz. Netanyahu warned, “We are in the midst of a complicated operation. We must be prepared for the possibility that this will take time.” Meanwhile, Ya’alon pledged that, “Hamas will pay a very heavy price” while Gantz similarly commented, “We will hit Hamas as hard as possible.”
Also yesterday, a rocket from the Gaza Strip was launched but failed to land in Israel. In response to the attempted attack, Israel’s Air Force targeted four weapons manufacturing and storage sites, according to an IDF statement.