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Three Bodies Found Believed to Be Missing Israelis Three Bodies Found Believed to Be Missing Israelis
(35 minutes later)
JERUSALEM — Israeli searchers found three bodies believed to be those of the missing Israeli teenagers who were abducted more than two weeks ago in the occupied West Bank, the Israel Defense Forces said on Monday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel called an emergency cabinet meeting. JERUSALEM — Israeli searchers on Monday found three bodies believed to be those of the missing Israeli teenagers who were abducted more than two weeks ago in the occupied West Bank, the government of Israel said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel called an emergency cabinet meeting as calls for a tough response escalated.
The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that the bodies, which were undergoing forensic identification, were found “following extensive searches” in the Palestinian territory. “With very heavy sorrow we found three bodies this evening and all the signs point to them being the bodies of our three kidnapped youths,” Mr. Netanyahu said.
The disappearances set off an uproar in Israel and deeply aggravated the already strained relations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, which had just taken steps to form a unity government backed by Hamas, the militant group that controls the Gaza Strip. Israeli officials, who have rejected that government, have blamed Hamas for the disappearance of the three teenagers. Hamas did not take responsibility, but praised the abductions. Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a senior spokesman for the Israeli military, said three bodies were found at 5 p.m. “under a pile of rocks in an open field” between Halhul and Beit Kahil, two Palestinian towns near Hebron. The location was an area that thousands of soldiers had been scouring for more than a week. The bodies “are being transferred for forensic identification,” Colonel Lerner, declining to say whether they were clothed or otherwise contained visual clues of identity. “We have informed the families that we found the bodies and that final identification is pending.”
The intensity and scope of the Israeli security operation to find the missing teenagers was the biggest in the West Bank in more than a decade, and left at least five Palestinians dead. The disappearances set off an uproar in Israel and deeply aggravated the already strained relations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, which had just taken steps to form a unity government backed by Hamas, the militant group that controls the Gaza Strip. Israeli officials, who have rejected that government, have identified two Palestinians from Hebron they say are affiliated with Hamas as prime suspects. Hamas did not take responsibility, but praised the abductions.
A senior Israeli official, speaking on the condition of anonymity moments before the official announcement, said the army had found the three bodies buried under rocks in an open field between Halhul and Beit Kahil, two Palestinian towns outside Hebron. The families had been notified by the military. The intensity and scope of the Israeli security operation to find the missing teenagers was the biggest in the West Bank in more than a decade, and has left at least five Palestinians dead.
“They know it’s the three; they will know for sure after they do the autopsy,” one of the officials said. The three appeared to have been shot to death, probably “very close to the kidnap” time, the official said, adding the prime suspects had still not been caught. There were no public statements from Palestinian leaders to the news of the discovered bodies. Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the spokesman for President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority; Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian peace negotiator; and Xavier Abu Eid, spokesman for the Palestine Liberation Organization, did not answer telephone calls or immediately respond to messages.
Colonel Lerner said he could not confirm that the victims had been shot, though a senior Israeli official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said they had been, likely shortly after the abduction. Repeating the official Israeli view of the past two weeks, Colonel Lerner said “the terrorists who carried this out were Hamas terrorists,” and vowed: “we will continue our mission in order to bring the perpetrators of the abduction to justice.”
In Hebron, soldiers returned Monday night to the home of Israel’s two prime suspects in the kidnapping, Marwan Qawasmeh and Amer Abu Aisha. As word spread that the military might demolish the homes, about 100 Palestinians gathered, some throwing stones at the soldiers, who fired at least six tear-gas canisters to disperse the crowd and blocked the roads around the two houses.
Israeli television reports said the bodies had been discovered by volunteers, guides from the Kfar Etzion Field School. The television accounts said the bodies had been partly covered and appeared to have been dumped hurriedly, probably soon after the abduction.Israeli television reports said the bodies had been discovered by volunteers, guides from the Kfar Etzion Field School. The television accounts said the bodies had been partly covered and appeared to have been dumped hurriedly, probably soon after the abduction.
The three teenagers — Eyal Yifrach, 19; Gilad Shaar, 16; and Naftali Fraenkel, 16, who also holds United States citizenship —, were last seen entering a car at about 10 p.m. on June 12 at a hitchhiking stop in the Gush Etzion settlement block, not far from the area where the bodies were found.The three teenagers — Eyal Yifrach, 19; Gilad Shaar, 16; and Naftali Fraenkel, 16, who also holds United States citizenship —, were last seen entering a car at about 10 p.m. on June 12 at a hitchhiking stop in the Gush Etzion settlement block, not far from the area where the bodies were found.
One of the abducted youths managed to place an emergency call to the police and whispered that he had been kidnapped, but the police initially thought it was a prank call. The search only started hours later when some of the parents reported their sons missing.One of the abducted youths managed to place an emergency call to the police and whispered that he had been kidnapped, but the police initially thought it was a prank call. The search only started hours later when some of the parents reported their sons missing.
At 8 p.m. Monday, dozens of military and police vehicles had completely blocked off the north entrance to Halhul and Karmei Tzur, a Jewish settlement. In Halhul, police convoys were operating and scores of troops were visible. But there were practically no cars on Road 60, the main artery south from Jerusalem to Hebron — the road on which the teenagers would have hitchhiked toward home.At 8 p.m. Monday, dozens of military and police vehicles had completely blocked off the north entrance to Halhul and Karmei Tzur, a Jewish settlement. In Halhul, police convoys were operating and scores of troops were visible. But there were practically no cars on Road 60, the main artery south from Jerusalem to Hebron — the road on which the teenagers would have hitchhiked toward home.
The search involved hundreds of soldiers who had been combing the Hebron area for two weeks. In parallel to the search, the Israeli military conducted an aggressive campaign of arrests and raids aimed at weakening the infrastructure of Hamas in the West Bank. In parallel to the search, the Israeli military conducted an aggressive campaign of arrests and raids aimed at weakening the infrastructure of Hamas in the West Bank.
As Israeli’s top ministers convened at 9:30 p.m. to discuss possible responses to the discovery, several had already issued statements demanding severity.
Naftali Bennett, head of the right-wing Jewish Home party, wrote on his Facebook page that “there is no forgiveness to the murders of children” and “this is the time for actions and not for talk.”
Yisrael Katz, the transportation minister and a member of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Likud faction, told reporters that Israel must “act will all our strength against Hamas in Gaza and the West Bank and teach Hamas a lesson.”
David Pearl, a leader of the community council in Gush Etzion, the settlement bloc where the abduction occurred, called on the Israeli government Monday night to deport anyone connected with terrorism to Gaza or Jordan.
“How is it possible that two terrorists were allowed to walk freely and kill our boys?” he asked in an interview on Army Radio. “Such people and their entire clan need to be put on trucks and sent out of Israel.” H added, “We have had enough.”
A member of the search teams, Benny Drupper, said in an interview on Army Radio that the breakthrough began when “one of the guys spotted something abnormal.”
“He moved some rocks and discovered a body,” Mr. Drupper said, describing the location as “an isolated, half-cultivated area” in a hilly landscape. “It is not an area someone would drive through every day, unless he is a farmer there,” he added. “The search in this area was conducted with the understanding that a terrorist would think about such a location beforehand.”
Danny Danon, Israel’s right-wing deputy defense minister, issued a statement promising that the government would “not stop until Hamas is completely defeated.”Danny Danon, Israel’s right-wing deputy defense minister, issued a statement promising that the government would “not stop until Hamas is completely defeated.”
“We must ensure that this tragic end be turned into an opportunity to create a better and safer Israel,” Mr. Danon said. “Israelis have the willingness and the fortitude necessary to endure the hardships of a long-lasting operation aimed at eradicating Hamas.”“We must ensure that this tragic end be turned into an opportunity to create a better and safer Israel,” Mr. Danon said. “Israelis have the willingness and the fortitude necessary to endure the hardships of a long-lasting operation aimed at eradicating Hamas.”
He called for the demolition of “homes of the terrorists” and destruction of their weapons caches, and urged the international community to halt “all aid to the Palestinian Authority.”He called for the demolition of “homes of the terrorists” and destruction of their weapons caches, and urged the international community to halt “all aid to the Palestinian Authority.”
Rabbi Mordechai Malka of Elad, Israel, where the Yifrach family lives, told reporters as he departed the family’s home: “The only thing that encourages us all is the unity shown by the people of Israel around this difficult event. The only request of family is that Israel will continue on that path, and not only in times of sorrow.”
Tzurit Fenigstein, a neighbor of the Shaar family in Talmon, Israel, said in a telephone interview that a rally for the teenagers that was held in Tel Aviv on Sunday night, attended by tens of thousands, had “made the family feel they are not alone.”
She said the uncertainty of the last two weeks was difficult. “At least there is some small comfort that the tension is now behind us,” she said.