News
Bodies of three kidnapped youngsters found, Israel weighs response
Yesterday afternoon Israeli security forces discovered the bodies of the three Israeli youngsters who were kidnapped more than two weeks ago.
Eyal Yifrah, 19, Gilad Shaer, 16 and Naftali Frenkel, 16 were abducted while hitchhiking in the West Bank. Their fate has gripped Israel ever since. During the past two weeks, Israel has conducted a large-scale military operation to locate the youngsters and last week Israel named two Hamas members from the Hebron area as the prime suspects in connection with the abduction.
The search came to an end yesterday afternoon when the three bodies were discovered by a team of the Kfir Infantry Brigade, the elite Maglan unit, and civilian volunteers. They were buried in a field near Halhul, north of Hebron, just several miles from where the kidnapping took place. The Shin Bet security agency assessed that the teenagers had most likely been shot soon after they were abducted.
Israel’s President Shimon Peres said “The entire nation is bowing its head with unbearable sorrow this evening,” but pledged “Our war on terrorism will only intensify.” Special television broadcasts carried the news throughout the evening and Israelis gathered in public spaces to light candles in memory of the three teenagers.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement saying “our hearts are bleeding, the whole nation is crying.” He added that the three youngsters had been “murdered in cold blood by animals “and that “Hamas is responsible, and Hamas will pay.” Netanyahu subsequently convened the Security Cabinet, but no decision was reached on how Israel will respond to the murders. The forum will reportedly reconvene later today after the funerals of Yifrah, Shaer and Frenkel have taken place.
Meanwhile, five rockets from the Gaza Strip landed in Israel overnight, causing some damage but no injuries. Israel’s Air Force responded by striking 34 Gaza targets, including a Hamas command centre and other positions of strategic importance to Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Haaretz reports that Hamas and other Palestinian factions are bracing themselves for increased Israeli operations in the Gaza Strip in response to yesterday’s developments.