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{{Short description|Kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank}} | |||
{{Kidnapping}} | |||
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On June 12, 2014 three Israeli teens went missing and Israeli officials assume they were kidnapped.<ref name="20140613NYT">{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/14/world/middleeast/3-israeli-teenagers-said-to-be-kidnapped-in-west-bank.html?_r=0|title=Israeli Teenagers Said to Be Kidnapped in West Bank|last=KERSHNER|first=ISABEL|date=13 June 2014|work=]|accessdate=15 June 2014}}</ref> Israeli Prime Minister said ] is behind the kidnapping.<ref name="20140615CNN">{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/15/world/meast/west-bank-jewish-teens-missing/|title=Israeli PM Netanyahu says Hamas abducted 3 teenagers|date=15 June 2014|work=]|accessdate=15 June 2014}}</ref> Hamas denied culpability in the kidnapping, but hailed the attack.<ref name="20140615TOI" /> Three Muslim Jihadist groups have claimed responsibility for the kidnappings: The West Bank Branch of ], ], and ].<ref name="WP20140614">{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/israel-searches-for-teens-who-went-missing-in-the-west-bank-on-thursday/2014/06/14/d60a0778-f3df-11e3-a4a8-8ac203a4c406_story.html|title=Israel says 3 missing teens were kidnapped by a terrorist group|date=14 June 2014|work=]|accessdate=15 June 2014}}</ref> There is nothing to indicate that any of the claims are credible.<ref name="20140615TOI" /> | |||
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{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}} | |||
{{Infobox event | |||
| title = 2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers | |||
| image = Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar, Naftali Frenkel.jpg | |||
| image_size = | |||
| caption = Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar, Naftali Fraenkel | |||
| date = {{start date|df=y|2014|06|12}} | |||
| time = {{circa}} 22:00 ] (]) | |||
| place = ], ] | |||
| outcome = The three kidnapped teenagers were murdered and their bodies found on 30 June. | |||
| reported deaths = Naftali Fraenkel, 16, from ]<br />Gilad Shaer, 16, from ]<br />Eyal Yifrah, 19, from ] | |||
| suspects = 2 ] members from ]: Marwan Qawasmeh (29) and Amar Abu-Isa/Amer Abu Aysha (32)<ref name="CNNIdentify"/><ref name="CBS 2014 Jun 26">{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/israel-ids-2-main-suspects-in-teens-disappearance|title=Israel IDs 2 main suspects in teens disappearance |work=]|date=26 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
| accused = | |||
| convicted = | |||
| charges = | |||
| verdict = | |||
| convictions = | |||
| litigation = | |||
| notes = | |||
}} | |||
The '''2014 Gush Etzion kidnapping and murder''' refers to the abduction and killing of three ] teenagers in the West Bank during June 2014. The victims, Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaer, and Naftali Fraenkel, were Israeli students aged 16 and 19. On the evening of 12 June 2014, the three teenagers were ] in the ] settlement in ], in the ] when they were abducted. | |||
The three missing teens are Gilad Shaer, 16, from ], Naftali Frankel, 16, from ], and Eyal Yifrah, 19, from ].<ref name="20160615haaretz">{{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.598583|title=LIVE BLOG: Netanyahu says three teens kidnapped by terror organization|date=June 15, 2014|work=]|accessdate=15 June 2014}}</ref> Frankel is a dual Israeli-]n citizen.<ref name="WP20140614"/> | |||
The ] immediately initiated '''Operation Brother's Keeper''' ({{langx|he|מבצע שובו אחים|translit=Mivtza Shuvu Ahim}}) in search of the three teenagers. On 30 June, their bodies were found in a shallow grave near the town of ]. Israeli authorities accused two members of the Palestinian militant group ], Marwan Qawasmeh and Amer Abu Aisha, of carrying out the abduction and murder. As part of the operation, Israel arrested around 350 Palestinians, including nearly all of Hamas' West Bank leaders. The suspects were killed during a standoff with Israeli security forces on 23 September 2014, leading to the end of the operation. | |||
==Reaction== | |||
===Israeli reaction=== | |||
Israelis began a social media campaign advocating for the safe return of the teens, under the banner "Bring Back Our Boys". The label alluded to the recent "Bring Back Our Girls" campaign following the ] in Nigeria.<ref>, Ynet 14-06-2014</ref> | |||
The incident gained significant international attention and escalated tensions between Israelis and Palestinians, leading to an increase in violence and retaliatory actions and eventually triggering the ]. | |||
On June 14 and 15, Israeli security forces arrested around 80 Palestinians, among them senior members of Hamas, suspected of being connected to the kidnapping.<ref name="20140615CNN" /><ref name="20140615TOI">{{cite news|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-rounds-up-senior-hamas-men-in-the-west-bank/|title=Israel rounds up senior Hamas men in West Bank sweep|date=15 June 2014|work=]|accessdate=15 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
==Background== | |||
===Palestinian reaction=== | |||
2013 was a calm period with the November 2012 ceasefire being largely respected, despite 50 rockets fired by Palestinians and 10 airstrikes by Israel.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/26E6B78156B58A9985257CB70065223F|title=Human Rights and Democracy Report 2013|date=10 April 2014|publisher=UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office|access-date=28 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150510060215/http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/26E6B78156B58A9985257CB70065223F|archive-date=10 May 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> According to PCHR 44 Palestinians were killed and over 100 injured,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/2014/annual%20English%202013.pdf|title=PCHR Annual Report 2013|accessdate=11 February 2024}}</ref> while the Israeli Security Agency reported six Israeli fatalities (all but one from the West Bank) and 44 injuries.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.shabak.gov.il/English/EnTerrorData/Reports/Pages/2013AnnualSummary.aspx |title= 2013 Annual Summary |publisher= Israel Security Agency |year= 2013 |access-date= 15 August 2014 |archive-date= 9 February 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170209151954/http://www.shabak.gov.il/English/EnTerrorData/Reports/Pages/2013AnnualSummary.aspx |url-status= dead }}</ref> The first half of 2014 saw an increase in tension manifested by a higher rate of injuries. Among Palestinians there were 43 fatalities in the first half of the year plus 1860 injuries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_protection_of_civilians_weekly_report_2014_7_11_english.pdf|title=WEEKLY REPORT 1 – 7 JULY 2014|publisher=OCHAO|year=2006|access-date=15 August 2014|archive-date=12 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812205709/http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_protection_of_civilians_weekly_report_2014_7_11_english.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Tension was also increased by Israel's opposition to the formation of a Hamas-Fatah unity government, with threats of sanctions<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-hamas-palestinian-government-20140602-story.html |title= New Palestinian government backed by Hamas; Israel threatens sanctions |author= Maher Abukhater and Batsheva Sobelman| work=Los Angeles Times |date=2 June 2014}}</ref> and the burgeoning issue of prisoners and the violation of the Shalit agreement<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.addameer.org/etemplate.php?id=701 |title=Update on Hunger Strikes, Force Feeding & Arrest Campaign - June 2014 |publisher=Addameer |date=June 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714161649/http://www.addameer.org/etemplate.php?id=701 |archive-date=14 July 2014 }}</ref><ref name=nathanthrall>], , '']'' Vol. 36 No 16 • 21 August 2014 (1 August) pp. 10–12</ref><ref name=economist-two-big>{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21607895-hamas-wants-two-big-concessions-it-may-not-get-them-why-hamas-fires-those-rockets|title=Conditions for a ceasefire: Why Hamas fires those rockets|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=22 July 2014}}</ref> Mutual attacks on each other by Israel and Gaza continued, as did the Israeli blockade of Gaza.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldbulletin.net/haber/139114/israeli-air-land-and-sea-assaults-on-palestinians-continue|title=Israeli air, land and sea assaults on Palestinians continue|publisher=World Bulletin|date=17 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
], the Palestinian group which controls the Gaza Strip, called the perpetrators of the abduction "heroes" and condemned reported cooperation on the part of Palestinian President ] in the search for the teens.<ref>, Reuters (published in Ynet News 14-06-2014</ref> | |||
Mainstream western media ascribe the initiation of the major 2014 conflict to the kidnapping of the three Israeli teenagers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/07/15/world/middleeast/toll-israel-gaza-conflict.html?_r=0|title=The Toll in Gaza and Israel, Day by Day|author=Karen Yourish and Josh Keller|work=The New York Times|date=15 July 2014}}</ref> Some news analysts believe that earlier clashes might also have played a role in the chain of events. On 15 May, two Palestinian teenagers were shot dead during the Nakba commemorations in the ]. An autopsy report published on 9 June proved the death of one of them to be due to "live fire,” i.e. not "rubber bullets."<ref name=HRW1>{{cite web|url= https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/06/09/israel-killing-children-apparent-war-crime|title=Israel: Killing of Children Apparent War Crime|date=9 June 2014|publisher=Human Rights Watch}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mondoweiss.net/2014/07/moyheldin-relates-palestinian|title=Violence ecalates in Israel and Gaza|author=Phil Weiss and Annie Robbins|publisher=MSNBC|year=2014}}</ref><ref name=AJZ>{{cite web|url= http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/07/israel-dominant-media-narrative-20147675736829395.html|title=Israel's dominant media narrative|author=Rachel Shabi|publisher=Al Jazeera|date=6 July 2014}}</ref><ref name=Leuenberger>{{cite web|url=http://www.pij.org/details.php?blog=1&id=305|title=Hopelessness as Luxury: Perspectives from Contested Jerusalem|author=Christine Leuenberger|work=Palestine-Israel Journal quarterly|date=23 September 2014}}</ref><ref name=guerrero>{{cite web|url=http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article39102.htm|title=When Does the 'Cycle of Violence' Start?|author=Aldo Guerrero|publisher=Information Clearing House|date=15 July 2014|access-date=15 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819084911/http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article39102.htm|archive-date=19 August 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=MSNBC>{{cite web|url=http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/violence-escalates-in-israel-and-gaza-299841091970|title=All in with Chris Hayes|date=8 July 2014|publisher=MSNBC}}</ref><ref name=Pappe>], , ''The Plymouth Institute for Peace Research'', 21 August 2014.</ref> | |||
Palestinian ] and Hamas activists called on Palestinian shopkeepers and businessmen in ], via Facebook, Twitter and other social media, to destroy any CCTV footage that could be used by Israel to help locate the teens. Fatah activists in Hebron also confiscated security cameras in order to frustrate the search.<ref name=cctv>Khaled Abu Toameh, , Jerusalem Post 15-06-2014</ref> | |||
The Israeli Foreign Ministry web site emphasized rocket fire from Gaza as being the reason for the IDF mission into Gaza.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/PressRoom/2014/Pages/Statement-by-PM-Netanyahu-8-July-2014.aspx|title=Statement by PM Netanyahu|publisher=Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs|year=2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/PressRoom/2014/Pages/FM-Liberman-dispatches-letter-to-foreign-ministers-9-July-2014.aspx|title=FM Liberman dispatches letter to foreign ministers|author=A. Lieberman|publisher=Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs|year=2014}}</ref> | |||
Fatah's Facebook page posted a cartoon mocking the kidnapped teens, depicting them as rats dangling from a fishhook. The rats were marked with black ]s and ], ].<ref>, Israel National News 15-06-2014</ref> | |||
== Victims == | |||
In the ], families of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel celebrated the kidnapping by handing out sweets to passersby from a protest tent which had been erected to express solidarity.<ref name=cctv/><ref>, Ynet News 14-06-2014</ref> Gazan Palestinians also released a song on social networks mocking the kidnappings, and called for additional abductions.<ref>, Ynet News 15-06-2014</ref> Many Palestinians support the kidnap of Israelis. In 2011, Israel released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners convicted of serious crimes,{{Failed verification}} including murder,{{Failed verification}} ], an Israeli kidnapped by Palestinian militants.<ref name=CSM>{{cite news|last1=Bryant|first1=Christa|title=Why were kidnapped Israeli teens hitchhiking in the West Bank?|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2014/0614/Why-were-kidnapped-Israeli-teens-hitchhiking-in-the-West-Bank-video|accessdate=15/06/2014|work=The Christian Science Monitor|date=14/06/2014}}</ref> | |||
Eyal Yifrach, 19, lived in ],{{citation needed|date=September 2015}} Naftali Fraenkel (also spelled Frenkel), 16, was a dual Israeli-American citizen and lived in ].{{citation needed|date=September 2015}} Gilad Shaer was a resident of the ] of ].{{citation needed|date=September 2015}} Eyal Yifrah was a student at the {{Interlanguage link multi|Shavei Hevron Yeshiva|he|3=שבי חברון}} on King David Street in Hebron.<ref name=Pain>{{cite news |first=Mitch |last=Ginsburg |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/yeshiva-of-missing-teen-eyal-yifrach-opens-its-doors/ |title=Pain and brotherhood at kidnap victim's Hebron yeshiva |newspaper=] |date=19 June 2014}}</ref> The other two were students of the ] at ] in the ]'s ] under full Israeli administration.<ref name="ReutersForward" /><ref name= "Yeshiva News">{{cite news |url=http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/headlines-breaking-stories/239752/the-terrorist-abduction-search-continues.html |title=The Terrorist Abduction Search Continues |newspaper=] |date=15 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
==Suspects== | |||
===International reaction=== | |||
* On 14 June, ] ] ] released a statement condemning the abduction, expressing "deep concern on the trend toward violence on the ground and attendant loss of life, including today of a child in Gaza as a result of a recent Israeli airstrike." He expressed solidarity with the families of the abducted, called for their immediate release and called for restraint on both sides.<ref>Yair Ettinger, Chaim Levinson, Barak Ravid, Gili Cohen, ] June 15, 2014 </ref><ref>, Times of Israel 15-06-2014</ref> | |||
===Initial suspected perpetrators=== | |||
* On 13 June, the ] ambassador to Israel tweeted that he was "deeply concerned" about the events and was hoping for the safe return of the teens.<ref name=spain/> | |||
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Hamas killed the teenagers.<ref name="washington post found dead">{{cite news |last=Eglash |first=Ruth |author2=William Branigin |date=30 June 2014 |title=Israeli army says three kidnapped teenagers found dead |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/three-kidnapped-israeli-teenagers-found-dead-reports-say/2014/06/30/4e6a271a-007a-11e4-8572-4b1b969b6322_story.html |access-date=30 June 2014}}</ref> But opinions were divided within Israel's security services as to whether or not the two suspects had direct ties to Hamas.<ref>Sheera Frenkel, , '']'', 30 June 2014.</ref> On 26 June, the Israel Security Agency identified two Hamas members as key suspects in the kidnapping, whom Palestinian police noted, had gone missing since the night of the kidnapping.<ref name="CNNIdentify">{{cite news |last1=Erdman |first1=Shelby Lin |title=Israeli authorities identify the suspects in teens' kidnapping |publisher=] |url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/26/world/meast/israel-kidnapped-teenagers-hamas |access-date=29 June 2014}}</ref><ref name="huffingtonpost1"/><ref>{{cite news|place=UK|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/10929615/Israel-identifies-two-suspects-in-case-of-kidnapped-teens.html|title=Israel identifies two suspects in case of kidnapped teens|work=The Telegraph|access-date=29 June 2014}}</ref> High-ranking members of Hamas denied that the group had any involvement or foreknowledge of the incident.<ref name="20140615TOI"/> The two named suspects hail from the ], notorious for consistently acting against Hamas's policies.<ref>Shlomi Eldar, , '']'', 29 June 2014.</ref> Hamas political chief ] said he could neither confirm nor deny the kidnapping of the three Israelis, and he congratulated the abductors, because "our prisoners must be freed from the prisons of the occupation."<ref name="Haaretz">{{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.600759#!|title=Hamas chief lauds abductors of Israeli teens, says has no new information|work=Haaretz|access-date=23 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
* On 13 June, the ] said that it was "very concerned" about the well-being of the teens, and that it was working with Israel and the Palestinian Authority to resolve the situation.<ref name=spain/> | |||
* On 14 June, ] Foreign Minister John Baird expressed deep concern over the event and urged Palestinian security authorities, "who have been trained through Canadian and US leadership", to make every effort to ensure the safe return of the children to their families.<ref name=spain>, Times of Israel 15-06-2014</ref> | |||
Initially a number of groups, some previously unknown, claimed responsibility for the kidnappings: The ] (subsequently denied);<ref name="AI">{{cite press release|url=http://www.amnesty.ie/news/public-statementabducted-israeli-teens-must-be-released-israel-must-cease-collective-punishment |title=Abducted Israeli teens must be released, Israel must cease collective punishment of Palestinians |publisher=] |place=] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141004001043/http://amnesty.ie/news/public-statementabducted-israeli-teens-must-be-released-israel-must-cease-collective-punishment |archive-date=4 October 2014 }}</ref> a West Bank Branch of ], ''Brigades of Global Jihad'', ''Ahrar ar-Khalil'' (Liberators Battalion of Hebron), and ''Regiments of Hezbollah''.<ref name="WP20140614">{{cite news |last1=Booth |first1=William |last2=Eglash |first2=Ruth |date=14 June 2014 |title=Israel says 3 missing teens were kidnapped by a terrorist group |newspaper=] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/israel-searches-for-teens-who-went-missing-in-the-west-bank-on-thursday/2014/06/14/d60a0778-f3df-11e3-a4a8-8ac203a4c406_story.html |url-status=live |access-date=15 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140616112253/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/israel-searches-for-teens-who-went-missing-in-the-west-bank-on-thursday/2014/06/14/d60a0778-f3df-11e3-a4a8-8ac203a4c406_story.html |archive-date=16 June 2014}}</ref><ref name="YoZi">{{cite news|first=Yoav|last=Zitun|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4534855,00.html|title=IDF arrests 10 Palestinians amid signs of that hunt for teens drawing down|publisher=] |date=26 June 2014}}</ref> It was not clear how true their claims were, and the middle three were not considered credible.<ref name="Jorudo"/> | |||
* ] condemned the kidnapping, along with ], and called for restraint.<ref name=spain/> | |||
===Suspects arrested=== | |||
After the kidnap of the Israeli teens, Israel commenced Operation Brother's Keeper in the West Bank. Israel killed 9 Palestinians and raided 1300 properties including commercial and residential buildings. 800 Palestinians were arrested without immediate charge or trial.<ref> Huffington Post Retrieved 23 August 2014</ref> | |||
On 5 August 2014 Israel announced that Israeli security forces arrested Hussam Kawasme, in ], in connection with the murders.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Middle-East/Kidnap-and-murder-of-Israeli-teens-Palestinian-suspect-held-police-say/articleshow/39719757.cms|title=Kidnap and murder of Israeli teens: Palestinian suspect held, police say|work=The Times of India|access-date=23 September 2014}}</ref> During interrogation, Kawasme admitted to being the mastermind behind the attack, in addition to securing the funding from Hamas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.therakyatpost.com/world/2014/08/06/palestinian-suspect-held-kidnap-murders-3-israelis/|title=Palestinian suspect held over kidnap murders of 3 Israelis|work=The Rakyat Post|access-date=23 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150720211533/http://www.therakyatpost.com/world/2014/08/06/palestinian-suspect-held-kidnap-murders-3-israelis/|archive-date=20 July 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> Kawasme stated that after the boys were killed, Marwan Kawasme and Amer Abu Aysha drove to his house, where the three proceeded to bury the victims in Halhoul, the land Kawasme purchased only a few weeks prior.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-funded-kidnapping-of-3-boys-says-ringleader/|title=Hamas funded killing of 3 teens, says ringleader|work=The Times of Israel|access-date=23 September 2014}}</ref> | |||
By the time of his arrest, Kaswasme had shaved his beard and received a fake passport, in what was believed to be part of a plan to escape to Jordan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/183758#.U-J8xmJdXDg|title=Security Forces Arrest Kidnapper of Israeli Teens - Defense/Security - News - Arutz Sheva|work=Arutz Sheva|date=5 August 2014 |access-date=23 September 2014}}</ref> | |||
Officials stated that additional people arrested in connection with the murders were still being held, but no names were initially released.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-arrests-suspected-ringleader-of-cell-that-nabbed-teens/|title=Israel arrests suspected ringleader of cell that killed teens|work=The Times of Israel|access-date=23 September 2014}}</ref> | |||
On 20 August, Hamas member Saleh al-Arouri, who lived in Turkey, claimed Hamas's involvement in the abduction and murder.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Crowcroft |first=Orlando |date=2014-08-21 |title=Hamas official: we were behind the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/21/hamas-kidnapping-three-israeli-teenagers-saleh-al-arouri-qassam-brigades |access-date=2024-05-26 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> He continued to describe the perpetrators as heroic.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sanchez |first=Ray |date=2014-08-22 |title=Hamas leader admits militants abducted slain Israeli teens |url=https://www.cnn.com/2014/08/22/world/meast/israel-teens-death-hamas/index.html |access-date=2024-05-26 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref><ref name="memritv Arouri speech">{{cite news|title=Hamas Leadership Acknowledges Responsibility for Kidnapping Three Israeli Teens|url=http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/4437.htm|access-date=21 August 2014|publisher=Memri T.V.}}</ref> Hugh Lovatt of the ] labeled al-Arouri's claim was "suspicious", saying it might have reflected a desire to assert his relevance within the Hamas leadership or, alternatively, was accurate, reflecting a power struggle within Hamas itself.<ref name="guardian hamas official">, ''The Guardian''; retrieved 21 August 2014</ref> On 21 August Hamas leader ] congratulated the kidnapping, but claimed Hamas leadership had no prior knowledge of the abductions and murders and had learned about them through the Israeli military.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Khoury |first=Jack |date=2014-06-23 |title=Hamas chief lauds abductors of Israeli teens, says has no new information |url=https://www.haaretz.com/2014-06-23/ty-article/hamas-meshal-lauds-abductors-of-israeli-teens/0000017f-db73-df62-a9ff-dff70cef0000 |access-date=2024-05-26 |work=Haaretz |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Mashaal Yahoo interview">{{cite web |date=22 August 2014 |title=Hamas leader: Don't compare us to ISIL |url=https://news.yahoo.com/hamas-leader--don-t-compare-us-to-isil-193125056.html |access-date=23 September 2014 |work=Yahoo News}}</ref> | |||
The following day, NGO ] contacted US Attorney General Eric Holder to request extradition of al-Arouri. Although Turkey and Israel do not have an extradition agreement, the US and Turkey do, which it can use to extradite those who commit terrorist acts against US citizens.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/184277#.U_Yl32JdXDg|title=NGO Asks US to Demand Extradition of Hamas Leader|work=Arutz Sheva|date=21 August 2014 |access-date=23 September 2014}}</ref> | |||
===Suspects killed=== | |||
The two suspects, Marwan Kawasme and Amar Abu Aysha, were staying in a house in Hebron, when IDF soldiers and Israeli counter-terrorism ] members surrounded the building at dawn on 23 September, in an attempt to arrest the suspects. Israeli forces opened fire on the building and reportedly called on the two suspects to come out. With no response the Israeli force began using a bulldozer to bring down the building. According to Israeli forces, one of the suspects partially rose out of a hole and began firing a rifle, whereupon Israeli forces shot him. After this suspect fell back into the home, likely dead, Israeli forces again opened fire on the house, utilizing grenades and other explosives this time, after which both men were confirmed deceased.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4574284,00.html|title=Inside the raid on teens' killers|newspaper=Ynetnews|publisher=Ynet News|date=23 September 2014|last1=Ben-Yishai|first1=Ron}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/WATCH-Dramatic-footage-of-Israeli-SWAT-team-killing-Palestinian-murderers-of-three-Jewish-teens-376210|title=WATCH: Dramatic footage of Israeli SWAT team hunting Palestinian murderers of three Jewish teens|work=The Jerusalem Post|access-date=23 October 2014}}</ref> | |||
Both Hebron governor Kamel Hmeid and Hamas spokesman Salah Bardawil described the suspects as martyrs, with the latter belatedly insinuating that Hamas had in fact been responsible for the kidnap and murder of the three Israeli teens.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-palestinians-israel-idUSKCN0HI09H20140923|title=Israel says its troops kill Hamas men accused of slaying teens|work=Reuters|date=23 September 2014|access-date=23 October 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/israeli-forces-kill-2-suspects-in-kidnap-murder-of-3-teens/2014/09/23/1e79414a-4304-11e4-b47c-f5889e061e5f_story.html|title=Israeli forces kill two Hamas members suspected in kidnapping, killing of 3 teens|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=23 October 2014}}</ref> Hamas leader Khaled Mashal also called the suspects "martyrs" and "heroes."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4583490,00.html|title='Mohammed Deif is alive, and we have proof,' says Mashal|work=ynet|date=23 October 2014|access-date=23 October 2014}}</ref> | |||
===Investigation conclusion=== | |||
The investigation concluded that the kidnapping operation's costs ran to ]220,000, a sum procured by Hossam Hassan Kawasmeh (40), with the assistance of his brother, Mahmoud, who was exiled to the Gaza Strip in the Gilad Shalit exchange in November 2011, to purchase the two vehicles and weaponry. The cars were purchased from Nuh Abu-Eisha, and the weapons from Hamas operative Adnan Mahmad Izzat Zru (34), both Hebronites. Hossam Kawasmeh's attempt to escape to Jordan, thwarted when he was arrested in the Shuafat refugee camp on 11 July, was assisted by his relatives Hisham Kawasmeh (45) and Jamil Kawasmeh (38), as well as Hassan Kawasmeh (45), a Hamas militant. Two other Hebronites, Ahmad Ibrahim Mahmad Kawasmeh (64) and his brother, senior Hamas operative Arafat Ibrahim Mahmad Kawasmeh (50), were involved in helping the perpetrators go into hiding, the latter concealing them on his property.<ref> ] 4 September 2014.</ref> | |||
On 6 January 2015, Hussam Qawasmeh was sentenced to three life terms in prison for the murders, along with being assessed a compensation payment of $63,000 to the victims' families.<ref name="Hussam-Qawasme-jailed">{{cite news |author=BBC |date=6 January 2015 |title=Palestinian jailed for murder of Israeli teenagers |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-30697521}}</ref> | |||
==Sequence of events== | |||
===Prelude=== | |||
According to Israeli investigations, the seizure and killing of the three was organized by Hussam Qawasmeh, who had received $39,000 from his brother Mahmoud in Gaza, via a go-between still at large. The money financed the purchase of three M-16 rifles, a jeep, and the Israeli car, which was bought from a used-car dealer in Hebron after it was stolen from the settlement of ].<ref name="AHCL" /> Altogether, he met with Marwan five or six times before the kidnapping. The plan was to conceal one kidnapped Israeli in Marwan Qawasme's barbershop in Hebron, then transfer him to Marwan's aunt's vacant house. A first attempt on 10 June failed to find any hitchhikers.<ref name="AHCL" /> There was no intention to release the boys: from the outset the plan, considered amateurish and not professional, envisaged murdering the captives. The plot of land where they were buried had been purchased to that end some time earlier, and a refuge to escape detection had been prepared in an old house near Tufah where the two suspects hid in a disused cesspit for five days.<ref>Chaim Levinson, ] 23 August 2014.</ref> | |||
===Week 1 (12–19 June)=== | |||
Netanyahu asserted that the attack originated from ], and criticized the ].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILyLLxXx9Ow&feature=player_detailpage#t=70|title=PM Netanyahu's Statement Regarding the Kidnapping of Israeli Teenagers by Hamas|publisher=Israeli Prime Minister |format=Google ] |work=Official channel|date=15 June 2014 }}</ref> | |||
In the first week, Israel added a further three to the six ] already present in the West Bank.<ref name="BoothEglash" /> Close to 40 ]s were engaged in rounding up suspects,<ref name="YZitun3">{{cite news |first=Yoav |last=Zitun |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4532597,00.html |title=A night with troops searching for abducted teens |publisher=] |date=20 June 2014}}</ref> notably the ] and the ].<ref>{{cite news |first=Yaakov |last=Lappin |url=http://www.jpost.com/Defense/IDF-arrests-80-Hamas-members-in-West-Bank-in-response-to-kidnapping-359354 |title=IDF arrests 80 Hamas members in West Bank in response to kidnapping |newspaper=] |date=15 June 2014}}</ref> Other specialized groups, such as the ],<ref name="Newman" /> the ] and the ]<ref name="YZitun3" /> supplement the search force.<ref name="YZitun3" /> ] drones were deployed, and the ] conducted tunnel searches.<ref>{{cite news |first=Stuart |last=Winer |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/abducted-teens-likely-still-alive-idf-officer-says/ |title=Abducted teens likely still alive, IDF officer says |newspaper=] |date=22 June 2014}}</ref> Fifty ] IDF trackers were also used.<ref name="Jorudo">{{cite news |first=Jodi |last=Rudoren |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/24/world/middleeast/bedouin-trackers-hunting-for-clues-to-kidnapped-boys.html |title=Bedouin Trackers Hunting for Israeli Boys |newspaper=] |date=23 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
====Day 1==== | |||
Late into the night of Thursday, 12 June, teenagers Yifrach, Fraenkel, and Shaer were waiting at Geva'ot Intersection, west of the settlement of Alon Shvut in the Etzion Bloc south of Jerusalem, soon after 22:15, looking to catch a ride heading west on Route 367 toward Beit Shemesh and from there to locations in central Israel where each of them lived. The kidnappers intended to kidnap one Israeli. Apparently Yifrach, after accepting a ride, waved to the other two to join him. The Palestinians, afraid of giving their identity away if they spoke Hebrew, didn't dare object.<ref name="AHCL" >Amos Harel and Chaim Levinson, ] 12 June 2015.</ref> After the car veered off from the declared direction of Ashkelon, the three realized they had been kidnapped. Shaer then telephoned the police at 22:25, whispering, "I've been kidnapped."<ref name="AHCL" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/what-happened-on-the-night-of-the-kidnapping/#ixzz38tE0htQ0|title=What happened on the night of the kidnapping|work=The Times of Israel|access-date=23 September 2014}}</ref> Eight attempts were made to page the caller's cellphone, without checking its ownership, and his whispered remark was taken to be one of a number of pranks made that night. No check was made to find out the phone's owner, nor whether he was missing. Within days, Israeli investigators, though lacking conclusive proof, strongly suspected the teenagers had been killed, and, if so, knew where the victims' bodies would probably have been dumped.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Harel |first1=Amos |last2=Kubovich |first2=Yaniv |date=1 July 2014 |title=Revealed: Behind the Scenes on the Hunt to Find Kidnapped Teens |language=en |work=Haaretz |url=https://www.haaretz.com/2014-07-01/ty-article/.premium/teens-shot-dead-shortly-after-kidnapping/0000017f-dbac-db5a-a57f-dbee46970000 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2023-04-22}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Freedland |first=Jonathan |date=July 26, 2014 |title=Liberal Zionism After Gaza |url=https://www.nybooks.com/online/2014/07/26/liberal-zionism-after-gaza/ |access-date=2023-04-22 |website=The New York Review of Books |language=en |quote=Few of these campaigners knew that the Israeli authorities had, in fact, established from the start that the boys were dead and apparently withheld that information from the public.}}</ref> Subsequent analysis of the tape revealed what the police failed to realize at the time, that the murders had occurred while the hotline operator had been listening.<ref name="AHCL" /><ref name="Ginsburg" /><ref>{{cite news |first=Marissa |last=Newman |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/portraits-of-a-kidnapper/ |title=Portraits of a kidnapper |newspaper=] |date=27 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
Four and a half hours passed before Shaer's family finally phoned the Talmon security coordinator at 3:10 am to inform him their son Gil-Ad had not returned home. Only then did the security establishment take the case seriously, and Shin Bet and the IDF were alerted by the police.<ref name="Harel2">{{cite news |first=Amos |last=Harel |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.598973 |title=Hamas kidnapping reminiscent of Hezbollah |newspaper=] |date=16 June 2014}}</ref><ref name="Harel">{{cite news |first=Amos |last=Harel |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.598835 |title=Analysis: Shin Bet probe finds evidence Hamas involved in West Bank kidnapping |newspaper=] |date=15 June 2014}}</ref> According to the Palestinian ], the army succeeded in tracing the call to the Sanjar region, the last cellphone signal being made at 23:20 in the Hebron area, when Fraenkel's and Shaer's cellphones had been switched off.<ref name="AHCL" /><ref name="Ma'an">{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx%3FID%3D704478 |title=Israel deploys heavily near Hebron after disappearance of settlers |publisher=] |date=13 June 2014 |access-date=15 June 2014 |archive-date=16 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140616042008/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=704478 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="CSM2">{{cite news |first=Christa Case |last=Bryant |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2014/0618/Israel-s-search-for-kidnapped-teens-What-is-known-so-far-and-what-it-means-video |title=Israel's search for kidnapped teens: What is known so far, and what it means |newspaper=] |date=19 June 2014}}</ref> Meanwhile, at 1 a.m. on Friday morning, Marwan knocked on Hussam's door and said, "I've murdered three Jews."<ref name="AHCL" /> | |||
A gag order regarding the abduction was immediately placed on Israeli news services. The presumed identities of the kidnappers, acolytes of senior Hamas members, were known almost from the beginning to everyone in Hebron, but kept from the Israeli public;<ref name="Issacharoff2">{{cite news |first=Avi |last=Issacharoff |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/with-accomplices-kidnappers-evade-the-shin-bet-for-now/ |title=How did the Shin Bet fail to spot the Hebron kidnap cell in time? |newspaper=]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Avi |last=Issacharoff |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/leaving-hebron-idf-sees-that-kidnappers-can-just-vanish/ |title=In Hebron, the IDF discovers, it's all too easy to disappear |newspaper=] |date=27 June 2014}}</ref> in lieu of concrete details, rumours proliferated.<ref name="Gurvitz">{{cite news |first=Yossi |last=Gurvitz |url=http://www.worldcrunch.com/world-affairs/israeli-hostages-gag-orders-and-social-media/israeli-hostages-social-media-gag-orders-palestinian-people-/c1s16248/ |title=Israeli Hostages, Gag Orders and Social Media |publisher=] |date=17 June 2014}}</ref> Controversy soon raged in Israel over the police delay in reporting the call.<ref>{{cite news |first=Ben |last=Hartman |url=http://www.jpost.com/Pillar-of-Defense/One-of-kidnapped-teens-called-police-Weve-been-kidnapped-359396 |title=One of abducted Israeli teens called police: "We've been kidnapped" |newspaper=] |date=15 June 2014}}</ref> At 11:00 on 13 June, a "]" alert (meaning 'kidnapping') was issued.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}} | |||
Based on cellphone and other data, Israeli investigators deduced that the kidnappers' car had stopped near Beit Kahil, west of Halhul, for 28 minutes.<ref name="AHCL" /> According to Palestinian security sources, a ], with seating for 5,<ref name="AHarel2">{{cite news |first=Amos |last=Harel |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.600407 |title=Don't expect a happy ending from Israel's West Bank operation |newspaper=] |date=22 June 2014}}</ref> with Israeli license plates, was torched on the night of 12 June, and subsequently found by Palestinian police {{convert|2|km|mi}} from the village of ] near Hebron.<ref name="ReutersForward">{{cite news |url=http://forward.com/articles/200049/ |title=Is Torched Car Clue in Suspected Kidnap of 3 Jewish Teens on West Bank? |newspaper=] |publisher=] |date=13 June 2014 |quote= As media speculated that the three young settlers might have been abducted, }}</ref><ref name="PBeaumont">{{cite news |first=Peter |last=Beaumont |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/15/israeli-forces-west-bank-abducted-teenagers |title=Israeli forces tighten grip on West Bank in search for three abducted teenagers |newspaper=] |date=15 June 2014}}</ref> This vehicle was believed to be connected to the abduction.<ref name="Yeshiva News" /><ref name= "Ma'an" /> Suspicion arose that the use of the car displaying Israeli license plates was a trick to lull the hitchhikers into believing the vehicle was driven by Israelis.<ref name="ReutersForward" /> Israeli authorities had placed the emergency call recording under a gag order, but it was leaked to the public, after which the gag order was partially lifted.<ref name=jp361169/> It then emerged that after Gilad Shaer's whispered message "They kidnapped me," the taped emergency call also recorded a cry ("heads down!"), sounds of shouting, a volley of automatic fire, a weak voice sighing "Ai," silence, another volley of automatic fire and then singing.<ref name="jp361169">{{cite news |last1=Hartman |first1=Ben |last2=Harkov |first2=Lahav |last3=Lappin |first3=Yaakov |date=1 July 2014 |title=LISTEN: Recording of kidnapped teen's distress call to police released |work=The Jerusalem Post |url=http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Brothers-Keeper/Recording-of-distress-call-to-police-by-kidnapped-teen-released-361169}}</ref><ref name=am20140703/> The burnt car discovered that morning yielded evidence of numerous blood-stains. Israeli police assumed correctly that bodies must have been buried in that vicinity. What they did not know was that the bodies had been taken from the provisional burial site and reburied {{convert|3|km|mi}} beyond the radius of research.<ref name="AHCL" /> Notwithstanding this, the Israeli authorities began to broadcast the message that the boys were abducted, not that they had been murdered.<ref name=am20140703>{{cite news |first=Shlomi |last=Eldar |url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/07/misleading-kidnapping-almoz-hamas-vengeance-hatred.html |title=Israeli public misled on abductions? |newspaper=] |date=3 July 2014}}</ref><ref name="Issaster" /><ref>{{cite news |first=Justin |last=Schwegel |url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MID-01-080714.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140708181943/http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MID-01-080714.html |url-status=unfit |archive-date=8 July 2014 |title=How Israel Turned Tragedy into Opportunity |newspaper=] |date=8 July 2014}}</ref> | |||
====Days 2–3==== | |||
On 14–15 June, the Hebron and South Hebron Hills areas were the focus of investigations by a large number of troops. Soldiers numbering 2,500<ref name="YZitun" /> together with security agents, police, and special forces,<ref name="Yeshiva News" /> engaged in a manhunt, scouring numerous villages, including ],<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/ENG/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=705297 |title=3 injured by rubber-coated bullets in Beit Ummar clashes |publisher=] |date=17 June 2014 |access-date=17 June 2014 |archive-date=17 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140617085058/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=705297 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Beit Einun,<ref name="PBeaumont" /> ], ], ], ], ],<ref>{{cite news |first=Tom |last=Rayner |url=http://news.sky.com/story/1282241/israel-searches-for-kidnapped-teen-settlers |title=Israel Searches For 'Kidnapped' Teen Settlers |publisher=] |date=15 June 2014}}</ref> ],<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/torched-car-near-hebron-may-have-served-kidnappers/ |title=Torched car near Hebron may have served kidnappers |newspaper=] |date=14 June 2014}}</ref> ],<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.599001 |title=Israeli security forces ramp up hunt for Hamas cell in West Bank |newspaper=] |date=16 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Peter |last=Beaumont |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/16/israel-considering-expelling-hamas-leaders-west-bank-gaza |title=Israel Leaders Considering Expelling Hamas Leaders from the West Bank to Gaza |newspaper=] |date=16 June 2014}}</ref> and ]<ref>{{cite news |first=Jack |last=Khoury |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.599153 |title=Hebron area out of bounds to US officials after kidnapping |newspaper=] |date=17 June 2014}}</ref> in what the IDF termed 'Operation Shuvu Achim (Return, Brothers/Bring Back Our Brothers),'<ref name="YZitun">{{cite news |first=Yoav |last=Zitun |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4530549,00.html |title=Infantry battalion deployed to Hebron, IDF calls in reservists |publisher=] |date=15 June 2014}}</ref> and referred to in English as 'Brother's Keeper'.<ref name= "GLevy">{{cite news |first=Gideon |last=Levy |author-link=Gideon Levy |url=http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.599667 |title=Israel's double standard |newspaper=] |date=19 June 2014}}</ref> An anonymous "security source" claimed that little resistance was encountered because the local populations have become accustomed in recent years to regular night raids by the IDF.<ref name="Lappin" /> The sound of rubber-coated bullets and tear-gas canisters were heard.<ref name="PBeaumont" /> | |||
] | |||
] | |||
Over the weekend, Israeli security forces also arrested around 80 Palestinians, among them senior members of Hamas, accused of being connected to the kidnapping,<ref name="20140615CNN">{{cite news |last1=Ellis |first1=Ralph |last2=Schwartz |first2=Michael |date=15 June 2014 |title=Israeli PM Netanyahu says Hamas abducted 3 teenagers |work=] |url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/15/world/meast/west-bank-jewish-teens-missing}}</ref><ref name="20140615TOI">{{cite news |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-rounds-up-senior-hamas-men-in-the-west-bank/ |title=Israel rounds up senior Hamas men in West Bank sweep|date=15 June 2014|work=]|access-date=15 June 2014}}</ref> in a sweep that rounded up former government leaders, clerics, university lecturers, and militants of both Hamas and ] across the West Bank.<ref name= "Booth">{{cite news |first=William |last=Booth |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/israeli-forces-detain-80-palestinians-in-search-for-kidnapped-teens/2014/06/15/9056ea90-f47d-11e3-8f20-f3a5fed7f3c4_story.html |title=Israel accuses Hamas of abducting 3 teens |newspaper=] |date=15 June 2014}}</ref> In Hebron's Ein Deir Baha neighborhood Israeli forces broke down a door, apparently by firing a missile, after surrounding the house of Akram al-Qawasami.<ref name=m705045/><ref name =Ynetstaff /> He, his 8-year-old son Muhammad and younger daughter Sujoud were injured by shrapnel, and two Hamas operatives, among them Zaid Akram al-Qawasami, were arrested inside.<ref name=m705045>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=705045 |title=3 Palestinians injured after Israeli army 'bombs Hebron home' |publisher=] |date=15 June 2014}}</ref><ref name=Ynetstaff /> The military also fully closed the ] and ], only allowing passage for humanitarian cases.<ref name="20140615TOI" /> | |||
On Sunday, Netanyahu said what he had only hinted at previously, that Israel "knew for a fact" that the abduction had been carried out by Hamas,<ref>{{cite news |first=Jodi |last=Rudoren |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/16/world/middleeast/netanyahu-blames-hamas-in-kidnapping-of-israeli-youths.html |title=Netanyahu Says Three Were Taken by Hamas |newspaper=] |date=15 June 2014}}</ref> a position the IDF had avoided explicitly stating.<ref name="Harel" /> He did, however, not provide any evidence.<ref name="Islamist_group_blame">{{cite news |author=Tait |first=Robert |date=15 June 2014 |title=Hamas kidnapping: Islamist group to blame for youths' 'kidnapping', Benjamin Netanyahu says |newspaper=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/10901225/Hamas-kidnapping-Islamist-group-to-blame-for-youths-kidnapping-Benjamin-Netanyahu-says.html}}</ref> Security officials remained more cautious, tending to accept the probability that a Hebronite Hamas cell was involved, but uncertain whether it was a local initiative to secure prisoner releases or an operation approved by the Hamas leadership in Gaza.<ref name ="Harel2" /> A remark by ] about the "very heavy price" Hamas leaders might pay was interpreted by one journalist as hinting Israel might be mulling the option of resuming its campaign of ], this time against the Hamas leadership.<ref name="Ginsburg">{{cite news |first=Mitch |last=Ginsburg |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-could-kill-hamas-leaders-defense-minister-hints/ |title=Israel could kill Hamas leaders, defense minister hints |newspaper=] |date=15 June 2014}}</ref> Israel's ], ], threatened "possible actions" in ] and ].<ref>{{cite news |date=15 June 2014 |title=Israeli raids target Hamas members as Netanyahu accuses group of kidnapping |url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/15/israel-raids-hamas-kipdnapping-netanyahu |newspaper=The Guardian |location=Jerusalem |agency=Associated Press |access-date=16 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
====Day 4==== | |||
Overnight on 16 June, the IDF clashed with Palestinians in ], where they ransacked the offices of ]'s ] and confiscated computers.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=705095 |title=Israeli forces ransack offices, confiscate computers in Jenin |publisher=] |date=16 June 2014 |access-date=16 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140618061742/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=705095 |archive-date=18 June 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 400 soldiers raided the Jalazone refugee camp near ], killing Ahmad Arafat Samada (Ahmad Sabarin) (21) with a gunshot wound in the chest, after the Israeli army said he threw a brick at the Israeli soldiers.<ref name= aj20140617>{{cite news|title= Israeli forces kill Palestinian during raids|url= http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/06/israeli-forces-kill-palestinian-during-raids-201461674729736569.html |publisher=Al Jazeera|date=17 June 2014}}</ref><ref name=sf20140616>{{cite news|title=Photos of the Day|url=http://www.sfgate.com/news/slideshow/Photos-of-the-Day-87991/photo-6463566.php|agency=AP|work=The San Francisco Chronicle |date=16 June 2014}}</ref> A dragnet rounded up a further 50 people, bringing the total of Palestinians detained to 150. Many arrests, including the former speaker of the ] ], 66, were part of what ] ] described as an extensive operation, and were not linked to the search for the youths, but were part of a crackdown to apply pressure on Hamas.<ref name="Ynetstaff">{{cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4530816,00.html |title=IDF chief: We're heading towards an extensive operation |publisher=] |date=16 June 2014}}</ref><ref name="Jrudo">{{cite news |first=Jodi |last=Rudoren |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/17/world/middleeast/israel-demands-abbas-help-after-abductions.html |title=Israel Demands Palestinian Leader's Help After Abductions |newspaper=] |date=16 June 2014}}</ref> Netanyahu's approach was interpreted by some opponents as aimed at driving a wedge between ] and Hamas in order to break up the reconciliation between the two negotiated in April 2014,<ref>{{cite news |first=Amos |last=Harel |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.599190 |title=Israel's response to kidnapping aimed at driving a wedge between Abbas and Hamas |newspaper=] |date=17 June 2014}}</ref> thereby discrediting both Abbas and his government, which had been backed by Western countries.<ref>{{cite news |first=Daniel |last=Estrin |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/israel-expands-arrests-search-missing-teens-24169249 |title=Israel Leader Wants World Pressure on Palestinians |newspaper=] News |date=17 June 2014}}</ref> PA sources noted that Hamas, in the unity negotiations, had undertaken to desist from attacks and bloodshed, and if its involvement were proven, it would be a breach of the agreement that would render the reconciliation null and void,<ref>{{cite news |first=Avi |last=Issacharoff |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/pa-official-unity-pact-is-void-if-hamas-carried-out-kidnapping/ |title=PA official: Unity pact is void if Hamas carried out kidnapping |newspaper=] |date=16 June 2014}}</ref> a point repeated later in the week by the Palestinian Foreign Minister.<ref name="Blachier">{{cite news |first=Gregory |last=Blachier |url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-palestinian-israel-uprising-idUKKBN0EV19Y20140620 |title=Anger but no uprising over Israeli raids – Palestinian minister |publisher=] |date=20 June 2014 |quote=if Hamas is behind it, and nobody knows up until now, then it will be a blow to the reconciliation process. If we reach that conclusion, then the president will take drastic decisions.}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> | |||
] | |||
====Day 5==== | |||
Overnight 16–17 June, the ] arrested more than 200 Palestinians.<ref name="Zitun">{{cite news |last=Zitun |first=Yoav |date=17 June 2014 |title=Operation Bring Back Our Brothers: IDF arrests 200, shift focus to Nablus |publisher=] |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4531266,00.html}}</ref> Anything linked to Hamas was being targeted, an official source said.<ref name= "Lappin">{{cite news |first=Yaakov |last=Lappin |url=http://www.jpost.com/Pillar-of-Defense/Search-for-kidnapped-boys-enters-fifth-day-IDF-arrests-41-in-night-operation-359593 |title=Search for kidnapped boys enters fifth day, IDF arrests 41 in night operation |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post |date=17 June 2014}}</ref> The IDF shifted its attentions north, and deployed 1,000 soldiers from the ] for operations around ]. In particular the ] refugee camp and the village of ] were scoured in what a spokesman called '"cleaning house" in the "terror capital of Nablus"', and a further 41 Palestinians were detained, among them the manager of the Hamas-run television channel ], bringing the number of arrests to 200.<ref name="Zitun" /> Israeli soldiers confiscated a large cache of weapons and uncovered a weapons manufacturing lab in Nablus.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2014/June/IDF-Uncovers-Weapons-Caches-in-Nablus/ |title=IDF Uncovers Weapons Caches in Search for Teens |publisher=CBN |newspaper=News |date=17 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
Conflicting reports emerged regarding Israel's collaboration with both the PNA and other regional governments. Israel's ], ], denied on 16 June that Israel coordinated the search with Palestinian or Egyptian authorities.<ref name=Ynetstaff /> However, Israel military intelligence confirmed that Israel was working closely with both the PA authorities and Egypt.<ref name="Bar'el"/> Egyptian sources stated the same day that Israel had requested their assistance, and that President ] had issued directives to his security services to undertake negotiations with all parties.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx%3FID%3D705243 |title=Sources: Israel asked Egypt to help find kidnapped teens |publisher=] |date=16 June 2014 |access-date=16 June 2014 |archive-date=25 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025123211/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=705243 |url-status=dead }}</ref> On 17 June, Israel defence sources said PNA assistance had been "very professional."<ref name="Zitun" /> | |||
====Day 6==== | |||
] | |||
On the night of 18 June, Israel seized 64 more Palestinians, of whom 51 were Hamas members who had been previously arrested but released in the ] exchange in 2011, bringing to 240 the number of arrests. In six days, government sources announced, they had searched 800 structures, including the Al-Aqsa radio station in Ramallah and the Hebron-based TransMedia communications company, both linked to Hamas.<ref name="YZ">{{cite news |first=Yoav |last=Zitun |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4531672,00.html |title=IDF arrests 51 prisoners released in Shalit deal |publisher=] |date=18 June 2014}}</ref> Operations had taken place in Hebron, Jenin, Nablus, Yatta, Taffuh, Dura, Beit Kahil, ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ]<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=705707 |title=Israeli army arrests over 50 Palestinians released in Shalit deal |publisher=] |date=18 June 2014 |access-date=18 June 2014 |archive-date=19 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140619144025/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=705707 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and ].<ref name="Donho">{{cite news |first1=Aron |last1=Donzis |first2=Spencer |last2=Ho |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-scoops-up-51-palestinians-freed-under-shalit-deal/ |title=Israel scoops up 51 Palestinians freed under Shalit deal |newspaper=] |date=18 June 2014}}</ref> The overnight operations also secured the defenses of Israeli settlements. In the process, 300,000 Palestinians were left under curfew, and 600,000 in the area had their movements restricted,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706384 |title=UN Mideast peace envoy condemns Israel's arrest campaign |publisher=] |date=20 June 2014 |access-date=20 June 2014 |archive-date=25 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140625193244/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706384 |url-status=dead }}</ref> while Hebronites with permission to work in Israel, an estimated 20,000,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx%3FID%3D706421|title=Hebron losses '$10m daily' during siege|work=]|date=20 June 2014|access-date=20 June 2014|archive-date=26 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140626151958/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706421|url-status=dead}}</ref> were denied entrance into Israel, disrupting their livelihood. According to an IDF spokesman, Palestinians preparing for the ] holiday had "taken a hit." ] ] also stated that Israel had identified the Hamas cell responsible for the kidnapping.<ref name="Donho" /> | |||
====Day 7==== | |||
Overnight on 19 June, troops raided the ]'s student union searching for incriminating evidence, finding promotional material for Hamas.<ref name="Newman">{{cite news |first=Marissa |last=Newman |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/waiting-for-the-boys/ |title=Waiting for the boys |newspaper=] |date=20 June 2014}}</ref> The Prime Minister declared at a press conference: "We know more today than we did a few days ago."<ref name="Newman" /> The IDF arrested 25 wanted Palestinians in the West Bank, and searched 200 homes. Nine more raids were launched against Hamas social services (Dawah) centers.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Brothers-Keeper/Israel-vows-to-tighten-ring-around-kidnappers-as-it-targets-Hamas-infrastructure-360055 |title=Israel vows to 'tighten ring around kidnappers' as it targets Hamas infrastructure |newspaper=] |date=20 June 2014}}</ref> Moshe Ya'alon outlawed West Bank activities of the British Muslim charity, ] because some of its offices employed Hamas members. In East Jerusalem, a social centre operated from a ] mosque in Beit Safafa village, and a ] charity were also closed down.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.afp.com/en/news/30-new-arrests-israel-presses-west-bank-hunt-teens |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140620202536/http://www.afp.com/en/news/30-new-arrests-israel-presses-west-bank-hunt-teens |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 June 2014 |title=30 new arrests as Israel presses West Bank hunt for teens |publisher=AFP |date=20 June 2014 }}</ref> By night's end, 49 Palestinians had been arrested. One of the refugee camp detainees alleged that soldiers had stolen $580 from his wallet.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706367 |title=Israel detains 49 in large-scale West Bank arrest raids |publisher=] |date=20 June 2014 |access-date=21 June 2014 |archive-date=25 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140625193241/http://maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706367 |url-status=dead }}</ref> | |||
===Week 2 (20–26 June)=== | |||
] | |||
====Day 8==== | |||
Throughout the week, the arrest of Hamas leaders went quietly as they acceded to their detention, but by Friday, 20 June, sporadic popular resistance began to emerge.<ref name="JoRu" /> Three Palestinians were wounded in a raid on ], near Jerusalem, while another five<ref name="Dheisheh" /> were wounded in clashes at the ] by ], whose Ibdaa cultural center was wrecked, cheques and money from its safe, together with five computers, confiscated.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706572 |title=Israeli forces raid Ibdaa cultural center in Bethlehem |publisher=] |date=22 June 2014 |access-date=22 June 2014 |archive-date=27 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140627211708/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706572 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Four of the victims were reportedly run over by an Israeli jeep.<ref name="Dheisheh">{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706303 |title=5 injured, 30 detained as Israeli forces storm Duheisha camp |publisher=] |date=20 June 2014 |access-date=20 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140626153930/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706303 |archive-date=26 June 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706303 |title=5 injured, 30 detained as Israeli forces storm Duheisha camp |publisher=] |date=20 June 2014 |quote=Medical sources said that Malek Mustafa al-Sharif, 22, was wounded by rubber-coated steel bullets during the clashes. In addition, an Israeli military patrol vehicle ran over four youths from the camp, including Musa al-Khamour, 22, Hassan Mujahid Abu Joudah, and Marcel Mahmoud Zaghout, 19, who was arrested after he was struck in the head by the vehicle. The fourth injured individual was not immediately identified. |access-date=20 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140626153930/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706303 |archive-date=26 June 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Also on 20 June, Israeli soldiers near the Qalandiya checkpoint in Ramallah fired live rounds at a group of Palestinians who had thrown homemade grenades at them. Mustafa Hosni Aslan, 22, received a gunshot wound to the head, and died on 25 June.<ref>{{cite news |last=Booth |first=William |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/israel-troops-kill-2-palestinians-during-search-for-israeli-students-in-occupied-west-bank/2014/06/20/571b0472-5c98-4098-8f19-31121359b3a2_story.html |title=Israeli troops kill 2 Palestinians during search for Israeli students in occupied West Bank |newspaper =The Washington Post |date=17 June 2014 |access-date=21 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706357 |title=2nd Palestinian youth dies after being shot by Israeli forces |publisher=] |date=20 June 2014 |access-date=24 June 2014 |archive-date=25 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140625193040/http://maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706357 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=707843 |title=Palestinian shot Friday succumbs to wounds |publisher=] |date=25 June 2014 |access-date=25 June 2014 |archive-date=14 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714222202/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=707843 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Live fire was used according to the IDF in response to ]s, ]s, one makeshift grenade, firecrackers, and stones being thrown at soldiers at the camps.<ref name="LevZit">{{cite news |first1=Elior |last1=Levy |first2=Yoav |last2=Zitun |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4532572,00.html |title=Palestinian teen said killed in clashes with IDF as army arrests 25 more suspects in West Bank |publisher=] |date=20 June 2014}}</ref> In ]'s Haninia neighbourhood, after a night-long raid, involving many clashes with local youths, to detain a person Israelis consider to be a terrorist, as troops were withdrawing, eyewitness testimonies reported that a retreating Israeli soldier fired six shots and killed<ref name="Ma'an20">{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706295 |title=13-year-old Palestinian shot dead by Israeli forces in Dura |publisher=] |date=20 June 2014 |access-date=20 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150112084317/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706295 |archive-date=12 January 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 15-year-old Mohammed Dudeen.<ref name="JoRu">{{cite news |first=Jodi |last=Rudoren |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/21/world/middleeast/israeli-troops-kill-palestinian-teenager-protesting-west-bank-arrests.html |title=Israeli Troops Kill Palestinian Teenager Protesting West Bank Arrests |newspaper=] |date=20 June 2014 |quote='One of them crouched and opened fire on the boy,' said Bassam al-Awadeh, 42, who said he watched from about {{convert |150|yd|m}} away. 'The boy was hit in his heart and his abdomen.'}}</ref><ref name="Ma'an20" /><ref name=ii20140620>{{cite news |title=Palestinian killed in students hunt |url =http://www.independent.ie/world-news/palestinian-killed-in-students-hunt-30370736.html|agency= AP|work =Irish Independent|date= 20 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first1=Gideon |last1=Levy |author1-link=Gideon Levy |first2=Alec |last2=Levac |url=http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/twilight-zone/.premium-1.601500 |title=The Palestinian teen whose death went unnoticed by Israel |newspaper=] |date=28 June 2014 |quote=The first group of soldiers made do with firing tear-gas and stun grenades at the large numbers of young people on the streets. A little after 5 A.M., the last group of soldiers started to leave the town. Suddenly, one of the soldiers in the rear of the column aimed his rifle and fired live ammunition at the youngsters, at a range of about 80 meters.}}</ref> Twenty-five more Palestinians were arrested at Dura and Dheisheh, bringing the number of detainees to 320, of which 240 are considered Hamas operatives. The number of sites searched mounted to 1,150,<ref name="LevZit" /> of which 1,000 buildings were damaged,<ref name="Newman" /> the figure including over 750 homes.<ref name="Ma'an20" /> According to Palestinian Foreign Minister ] Israel had destroyed 150 homes by week's end.<ref name="AFP" /> In another dawn raid on the Dean's Office and Student Union of the ] in Jenin papers were seized, and Amir Saadi, 17, was shot in the shoulder. The villages of ],<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706311 |title=Israeli forces raid Arab American University in Jenin |newspaper=Ma'an |date=20 June 2014 |access-date=20 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140626160755/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706311 |archive-date=26 June 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> ], and ] were also raided.<ref name="Dheisheh" /> | |||
Riyad al-Malki demanded Israel produce evidence that Hamas was culpable, stating that Netanyahu cannot "keep blaming one side without showing evidence." He said Israel's massive military sweeps were unacceptable, with 300 Palestinians taken in exchange for three Israeli kids,<ref name="JoRu" /> but the Palestinian authority would act to prevent an ], for "if the situation continues as it is, this will end up (with) the destruction of what we have built in Palestine."<ref name="Blachier" /><ref name="AFP" >{{cite news |agency=] |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4532646,00.html |title=Palestinian FM: Israel overreacting on abducted teens |publisher=] news |date=20 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
On Friday night, Israeli security spokesmen said the "noose was tightening" as troops were concentrated near Hebron, with intelligence officials confident that attempts to move the youths to either Jordan, Gaza, or the Sinai had failed.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/noose-tightening-around-kidnappers-teens-still-in-west-bank/ |title=Noose tightening around kidnappers, teens still in West Bank |newspaper=] |date=20 June 2014}}</ref> A spokesman for the Prime Minister, Amos Gilead, stated that Netanyahu's view that Hamas was responsible was "built on the base of firm intelligence."<ref name="YZitun4" /> IDF forces ransacked Bethlehem's biggest Islamic charity, devoted to orphan's care, in the ] and took away computers and files.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706458 |title=Israeli troops raid Bethlehem's biggest charitable society |publisher=] |date=21 June 2014 |access-date=21 June 2014 |archive-date=3 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140703230020/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706458 |url-status=dead }}</ref> | |||
====Day 9==== | |||
On 21 June, Israeli forces concentrated their investigations on villages north of Hebron, searching wells, pits, and houses.<ref name="YZitun4">{{cite news |first=Yoav |last=Zitun |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4532701,00.html |title=IDF surrounds villages near Hebron, increases troop presence |publisher=] |date=21 June 2014}}</ref> According to Palestinian reports, an elderly man, Ali Abed Jabir, either died during an altercation with Israeli troops who broke into his home while ransacking houses in the village of ], or was denied passage for medical treatment after suffering a heart attack.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706454 |title=Palestinian man dies of heart attack as Israeli troops raid home |publisher=] |date=20 June 2014 |access-date=21 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140626150337/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706454 |archive-date=26 June 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Israel sources state the house was not raided and, on being told of the heart-attack, an Israeli ambulance was called.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706562 |title=Israel rejects responsibility for elderly Palestinian's death |publisher=] |date=21 June 2014 |access-date=21 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140702091619/http://maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706562 |archive-date=2 July 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> A further 39 Palestinians, primarily in Hebron and Bethlehem, were arrested in overnight raids, bringing the number seized to roughly 370, 75 of whom had been released in the 2011 prisoner swap. IDF sources challenged the report, saying only 10 Hamas 'terrorists' were seized. Further claims of soldiers stealing money were made by villagers in Beit Kahil.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706487 |title=Ongoing arrest campaign brings total Palestinians in jail to 5,700 |publisher=] |date=21 June 2014 |quote=Two residents of the village also accused Israeli troops of stealing money from their homes during predawn raids Saturday. Samir Haymouni told Ma'an that Israeli troops stole 15,000 shekels ($4,300) in addition to damaging all of his furniture. Similarly, Hatim Asafra said that Israeli soldiers stole 2,500 shekels ($725) from his apartment. |access-date=21 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140626060929/http://maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706487 |archive-date=26 June 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In the village of ], several houses were ransacked, and soldiers broke into the Noon Center for Islamic Studies and the Palmedia TC company where they confiscated computers and damaged furniture.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706456 |title=Israeli forces storm al-Bireh, clash with young men |publisher=] |date=21 June 2014 |access-date=21 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140703222624/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706456 |archive-date=3 July 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The IDF said cash had been confiscated in 21 homes of the 146 homes searched overnight.<ref name="YZitun5">{{cite news |first=Yoav |last=Zitun |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4532764,00.html |title=Rescue units rushed to Hebron, searching wells and caves |publisher=] |date=21 June 2014}}</ref> Palestinian sources also stated that in a predawn raid in Nablus, a female reporter was assaulted and troops shot and injured two Palestinian teenagers.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706481 |title=3 Palestinians injured in overnight Israeli raids in Nablus |publisher=] |date=21 June 2014 |access-date=21 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140703230708/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706481 |archive-date=3 July 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In the late afternoon three fire trucks, with pumps to empty pools of water, and an ATV rescue unit were rushed to assist special forces searching an area riddled with caves and wells north of Hebron, between ] and ], reportedly without concrete intelligence leads.<ref name="YZitun5" /><ref name="Yoav Zitun6" /> Netanyahu reaffirmed that 'the information in Israel's hands unequivocally indicates that Hamas is responsible for the abduction of the youths.'<ref name="Yoav Zitun6" /> | |||
====Day 10==== | |||
] | |||
On 22 June, Israeli units shot dead two Palestinians and wounded another 11 in overnight clashes in Ramallah and Nablus, while nine (Israeli statistic) to 38 (Palestinian statistic)<ref name="Ma'an22">{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706760 |title=38 detained in West Bank raids on Sunday, bringing total above 400 |publisher=] |date=22 June 2014 |access-date=22 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140625132736/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706760 |archive-date=25 June 2014 |url-status=dead }}. The list notes 16 from Hebron, 19 from Bethlehem and three from Jenin.</ref> were arrested and five charity offices were raided. Israeli forces also raided ] and ]'s law faculty, seizing flags and several computers.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706679 |title=Israeli forces raid Al-Quds University |publisher=] |date=22 June 2014 |access-date=22 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140625131009/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706679 |archive-date=25 June 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Ahmad Said Suod Khalid (27), an epileptic,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706854 |title=PCHR condemns army killing of mentally disabled man |publisher=] |date=22 June 2014 |access-date=22 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140701200254/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706854 |archive-date=1 July 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> of ] refugee camp was shot in the abdomen, back, and thigh,<ref name="Jorud">{{cite news |first=Jodi |last=Rudoren |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/23/world/middleeast/israel-syria-border-attack.html |title=Israeli Youth Dies in Attack Near Syrian Border |newspaper=] |date=22 June 2014}}</ref> for refusing an order to turn back as he insisted on going to a mosque for dawn prayers. Muhammad Ismail Atallah Tarifi (30) was found dead on the roof of a building opposite an Israeli sniper position,<ref>{{cite news |first=Yoav |last=Zitun |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4532948,00.html |title=Two Palestinians killed during clashes with IDF, nine arrested overnight |publisher=] |date=22 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706668 |title=Israeli forces kill 2 Palestinians in Ramallah and Nablus overnight |publisher=] |date=22 June 2014 |access-date=22 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140625083726/http://maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706668 |archive-date=25 June 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> an autopsy found he was shot dead by an ], a rifle in use with the IDF.<ref name=lat20140622>{{cite news |title=Two Palestinians, one Israeli boy killed in separate clashes|url=http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-palestinians-dead-clashes-west-bank-20140622-story.html|work=Los Angeles Times|date= 22 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706789 |title=Autopsy proves slain Palestinian killed by Israeli fire in Ramallah |publisher=] |date=22 June 2014 |access-date=22 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140701171738/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706789 |archive-date=1 July 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Mourners at his funeral in al-Bireh later complained that settlers from ] had fired at them, injuring one.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706919 |title=Israeli settlers open fire at mourners in Ramallah, 1 hurt |publisher=] |date=22 June 2014 |access-date=22 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140625081806/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706919 |archive-date=25 June 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Palestinians, protesting at the cooperation given Israeli forces by their own police, who dispersed crowds by firing live ammunition in the air, smashed four local police cars in Ramallah, and, once Israelis had withdrawn from the city, raided a police station in ].<ref name="Jorud" /> Abbas, affirming that he was not convinced Hamas was responsible, called on Netanyahu to condemn two earlier killings, and asked if the criminal kidnapping justified 'the killing of Palestinian youth in cold blood?'<ref name= "ToI2">{{cite news |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/abbas-calls-on-netanyahu-to-condemn-palestinian-deaths/ |title=Abbas calls on Netanyahu to condemn Palestinian deaths |newspaper=] |date=22 June 2014}}</ref> The Palestinian Prisoners' Society named 420 people so far arrested, claimed Israel consistently understated the numbers and refused to disclose where they are detained.<ref name= "Ma'an22" /> | |||
On Sunday, the Palestinian Authority asked for an urgent convening of the ], while mulling an appeal both to the ] and the ] to put an end what it considered to be "collective punishment," "Israeli terrorist aggression against the ]," and what ] termed "a reign of terror directed against a captive Palestinian population."<ref>{{cite news |first=Elhanan |last=Miller |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinians-turning-to-un-security-council-to-halt-west-bank-raids/ |title=Palestinians Turning to UN Security Council to Halt West Bank Raids |newspaper=] |date=22 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
====Day 11==== | |||
On 23 June, 80 locations, including seven Hamas-linked charities, were raided from the Nablus to Hebron and Jenin areas, with a further 37 Palestinians detained overnight. Four money-changing shops in Hebron and one in Bethlehem were also searched, and their computers confiscated. The number of Palestinians under detention rose to 471.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706979 |title=Israel detains 37 Palestinians as arrest operation continues |publisher=] |date=23 June 2014 |access-date=14 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140701195900/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706979 |archive-date=1 July 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> An officer interviewed on ] said that Israel, having achieved most of its "band of targets,” would close the operation, and that the military incursion pattern in the West Bank, apart from detention raids, would stop within days. No clue to the teenagers' whereabouts, had turned up, but the operation, in crippling Hamas's infrastructure, had been a success.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706997 |title=West Bank crackdown 'to end in days' |publisher=] |date=23 June 2014 |access-date=23 June 2014 |archive-date=1 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140701143821/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706997 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Netanyahu declared: "We've pretty much figured out who are the kidnappers—the actual perpetrators, the supporters, the command structure—and there's no question, these are members of Hamas."<ref name="Jorudo" /> | |||
====Day 12==== | |||
] | |||
On 24 June 120 buildings were searched and four to 13<ref name="Ma'an24">{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=707286 |title=Israeli forces raid Hebron district overnight, 'arrest 13' |publisher=] |date=24 June 2014 |access-date=24 June 2014 |archive-date=29 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140629033551/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=707286 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Palestinians were rounded up by Israeli forces in the Hebron area, Beit Kahil, Beit Awwa, ], and the Hebron neighbourhoods of al-Mahawir, al-Bassa, and al-Hawooz,<ref name="Ma'an24" /> bringing the number of sites examined to 1,800 and the number of detained Palestinians, in the IDF calculation, to 354,<ref>{{cite news |first=Gavriel |last=Fiske |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/four-arrested-overnight-in-west-bank-as-sweep-continues/ |title=Four arrested overnight in West Bank as sweep continues |newspaper=] |date=24 June 2014}}</ref> or according to Palestinian sources, over 500.<ref name="Ma'an24" /> As town searches and arrests wound down, investigators shifted their focus to interrogations of detainees and scrutiny of the 150 security cameras in the area in which the kidnapping is believed to have taken place.<ref>{{cite news |first1=Elior |last1=Levy |first2=Yoav |last2=Zitun |first3=Attila |last3=Somfalvi |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4534057,00.html |title=Hebron returning to normal as Shin Bet looks for new leads on kidnapped teens |publisher=] |date=24 June 2014}}</ref> The IDF said it had no substantial lead on the boys' whereabouts, or fate.<ref>{{cite news |first=Yoav |last=Zitun |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4534155,00.html |title=IDF Chief: As time passes, concerns grow regarding fate of boys |publisher=] |date=24 June 2014}}</ref> A lawyer for the PA said that in the wake of the West Bank round-up, the number of Palestinian minors detained in Israeli jails exceeded 250, and that the hunt for the missing Israeli youths served to cover up this fact.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=707519 |title=Number of Palestinian children in Israeli jails 'surpasses 250' |publisher=] |date=24 June 2014 |quote=Over the past decade, Israeli forces have arrested, interrogated, and prosecuted around 7,000 children between 12 and 17, mostly boys, at a rate of "an average of two children each day", UNICEF said. |access-date=24 June 2014 |archive-date=28 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140628210113/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=707519 |url-status=dead }}</ref> | |||
====Day 13==== | |||
On 25 June, 17 Palestinians were arrested overnight in Yatta, Beit Ummar, Hebron and Bethlehem among them legislative council members Khalid Tafish and Anwar Zaboun,<ref>{{cite news |author=Yoav Zitun |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4534303,00.html |title=Video: Hamas operative's arrest through the lens of the Skylark UAV |publisher=] |date=25 June 2014}}</ref><ref name="Ma'an25">{{cite news|url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=707700|title=Israeli forces detain Palestinian lawmakers, Hamas leaders overnight|work=]|date=25 June 2014|access-date=26 June 2014|archive-date=4 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140704224626/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=707700|url-status=dead}}</ref> both of Bethlehem, bringing the number of Palestinian legislators arrested in the campaign to 12.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=707782 |title=23 Palestinian members of parliament in Israeli jails |publisher=] |date=25 June 2014 |access-date=26 June 2014 |archive-date=27 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140627054357/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=707782 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Of the 19 people arrested in Beit Ummar since the start of the search, 14 are minors.<ref name="Ma'an25"/> A Palestinian youth in ], Younis al-Rjoub (18), was shot in the abdomen during a clash with Israeli soldiers.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=707877 |title=Israeli forces shoot and injure Palestinian near Hebron |publisher=] |date=25 June 2014 |access-date=26 June 2014 |archive-date=6 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140706153857/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=707877 |url-status=dead }}</ref> | |||
====Day 14==== | |||
On 26 June, the Israel Security Agency released the names of two Hamas suspects.<ref name="CNNIdentify"/><ref name="huffingtonpost1">{{cite news|publisher =Reuters |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/26/israel-suspects-teens-kidnapping_n_5534281.html |title= Israel Names Two Suspects in Kidnapping of Teens |work=HuffPost|date= 25 June 2014 |access-date=29 June 2014}}</ref> The ISA stated that both men had engaged in terrorism, been arrested and served time in the past, and were immediately considered suspects. ISA and Palestinian authorities said they had disappeared from their homes on the night of the kidnapping, and ISA believed them to be integral members of the kidnapping group.<ref name="CNNIdentify" /><ref name= "huffingtonpost1" /><ref>{{cite news|place=UK |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/10929615/Israel-identifies-two-suspects-in-case-of-kidnapped-teens.html |title= Israel identifies two suspects in case of kidnapped teens |work=The Telegraph |access-date=29 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
Overnight, 136 structures were searched and a further 10 Palestinians were arrested in the Hebron area on suspicion of being terrorists.<ref name="YoZi" /> Fatima Ismail Issa Rushdi (78) died of a heart attack during an Israeli raid on the Arruba refugee camp. Nine youths were injured by tear gas or rubber bullets. Two boys, aged 13 and 14, were arrested in Dura.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=707937 |title=78-year-old woman dies of heart attack during Israeli raid |publisher=] |date=26 June 2014 |access-date=26 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714225338/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=707937 |archive-date=14 July 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 44-year-old Ismail Ahmad al-Hawamda was shot in the foot, running away from a checkpoint in the Hebron district town of al-Samu.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=707940 |title=Israeli forces shoot, injure Palestinian at Hebron checkpoint |publisher=] |date=26 June 2014 |access-date=26 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714233056/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=707940 |archive-date=14 July 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Despite the ] stipulating coordination with the PA security service for Israeli entry into West Bank Areas in the ], in what was called an "unprecedented" move, Israeli units raided the Tunis and ] neighbourhoods of Nablus and Balata refugee camp without prior clearance. Two hundred homes in Awarta were also raided.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=707973|title=Israel raids Nablus without notifying Palestinian security|work=Ma'an News Agency|date=26 June 2014|access-date=26 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714204637/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=707973|archive-date=14 July 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
According to Israeli figures, state detentions numbered 381, of whom 282 are affiliated to Hamas. The number of locations searched rose to 1,955, including 64 Hamas institutions.<ref name="YoZi"/> Palestinian figures state that 566 were detained, six were shot dead, and over 120 wounded; two elderly people died of heart attacks during Israeli operations, and more than 1,200 homes were searched.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=708055 |title=Group: 566 Palestinians detained since Israeli campaign began |publisher=] |date=26 June 2014 |access-date=26 June 2014 |archive-date=1 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140701172404/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=708055 |url-status=dead }}</ref> | |||
===Week 3 (27 June – 3 July)=== | |||
====Day 18==== | |||
] Cemetery]] | |||
On 30 June, a search team located the bound bodies of the three boys on land purchased recently by the ] family<ref name="Issacharoff2" /> in an open field near Khirbet Aranava in the ] area, between Halhul and ], about {{convert|3|km|mi}} west of the former, just north of Hebron.<ref name="bo3ktf">{{cite news |date=30 June 2014 |title=Bodies of three kidnapped teens found |newspaper=] |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/bodies-of-three-kidnapped-teens-found}}</ref><ref name="Cohen Ravid Khoury">{{cite news |first1=Gili |last1=Cohen |first2=Barak |last2=Ravid |first3=Jack |last3=Khoury |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.602189 |type=live updates |title=Israeli forces find bodies of three kidnapped teens |newspaper=] |date=30 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4536378,00.html |title=IDF finds missing teens' bodies in West Bank |publisher=] |date=30 June 2014}}</ref> A high security source revealed that: | |||
{{Quote |The quick solving of the crime by the Shin Bet, which within a 24-hour period identified the kidnappers, together with military pressure in the field, prevented the kidnappers from hiding the bodies and negotiating with Israel for their return.<ref name="Cohen Ravid Khoury" />}} | |||
The ambulance carrying the three bodies was attacked by Palestinians as it left Halhul, the location where the bodies had been found. The Palestinians hurled rocks and paint at the ambulance, smashing its windshield and blinding the windows, but failed to cause the driver to lose control.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/pa-arabs-attack-idf-ambulance-carrying-teens-bodies/2014/07/01/ |title=PA Arabs attack IDF ambulance carrying teens' bodies |access-date=1 July 2014 |date=30 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
Just after midnight, Israeli military detonated explosives in the Hebron homes of the two main suspects, Marwan Qawasmeh and Amer Abu Aisha.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/01/world/middleeast/Israel-missing-teenagers.html |title=Israel's Search for 3 Teenagers Ends in Grief |first1=Jodi |last1=Rudoren |first2=Isabel |last2=Kershner |date=30 June 2014 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> | |||
====Day 19==== | |||
The joint funeral of Yifrach, Fraenkel, and Shaer was scheduled for 17:30 on 1 July. Huge crowds delayed it for over an hour. | |||
Israeli jets and helicopters struck 34 locations in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip in response to more than 20 rockets being fired at Israel from Gaza. A 19-year-old Palestinian man, Yousouf Al-Zagha, was shot dead by Israeli troops during a raid in the northern town of Jenin. An IDF spokesperson said the man had thrown a grenade at the troops, while his family maintained he had been carrying eggs home for ], the predawn meal during the fast of Ramadan.<ref>{{cite news |last=Deitch |first=Ian |date=1 July 2014 |url=http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_ISRAEL_PALESTINIANS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-07-01-04-25-41 |title=As Israel buries teens, airstrikes target Hamas |publisher=AP}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Lewis |first=Ori |date=1 July 2014 |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-palestinians-israel-idUSKBN0F521P20140701 |title=Israel mourns teenagers, strikes Hamas in Gaza |publisher=Reuters}}</ref> | |||
====Day 20==== | |||
A Palestinian teenager was abducted from East Jerusalem and murdered. Israeli police located the body within hours, and arrested Israeli nationalist suspects several days later.<ref name= "Suspects Arrested">{{cite news|title=Shin Bet forces arrest six in connection with Palestinian teens killing|url=http://www.israelnews.net/index.php/sid/223558111/scat/f81a4d9d561822ee/ht/Shin-Bet-forces-arrest-six-in-connection-with-Palestinian-teens-killing|access-date=7 July 2014|work=Israel News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714194312/http://www.israelnews.net/index.php/sid/223558111/scat/f81a4d9d561822ee/ht/Shin-Bet-forces-arrest-six-in-connection-with-Palestinian-teens-killing|archive-date=14 July 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> The ] was soundly denounced by all of the families of the Israeli kidnapping victims as well as by many Israeli governmental and non-governmental public figures. | |||
===Week 4 and on (4 July and after)=== | |||
On 4 July, Israel stated it was searching for a third suspect, Husam Dofsh, absent from his home since the kidnapping. A relative, Jihad Dofsh, had blown himself up in a "work accident" in a Hamas explosives laboratory in Hebron, and one of Qawasmeh's relatives had died in the same incident.<ref name="Issaster">{{cite news |first1=Avi |last1=Issacharoff |first2=Adiv |last2=Sterman |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/third-hamas-operative-reported-missing-since-teens-kidnapping/ |title=Israel hunting third Hamas operative missing since night teens were killed |newspaper=] |date=4 July 2014}}</ref> Husam Dofsh was arrested in a Hebron coffee-shop the following day, after phoning an Israeli news site to protest his innocence.<ref>{{cite news |first=Adiv |last=Sterman |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/suspected-accomplice-in-3-teens-killings-arrested/ |title=Suspected accomplice in 3 teens' killings arrested |newspaper=] |date=6 July 2014}}</ref> | |||
For about two weeks in July, Israeli military preparations began for direct fighting inside of Gaza, whilst Hamas rocket fire into Israel took place.<ref name="auto">{{Cite news|url=http://jcpa.org/the-gaza-war-2014/|title=The Gaza War 2014|newspaper=Jerusalem Center For Public Affairs|language=en-US|access-date=2016-11-13}}</ref> The military publicly announced on 17 July that it would go into Gaza, an intervention that caused at least 25 soldiers killed and scores injured on the Israeli side over the 20 to 21 July period.<ref name="auto"/> Public opinion in the nation is strongly divided, with, for example, the newspaper '']'' editorializing that the "soft Gaza sand... could turn into quicksand" and warning about the "wholesale killing" of Palestinian civilians.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/israeli-mood-turns-dark-mounting-casualties-24652707|title=International|author=ABC News|work=ABC News|access-date=23 September 2014}}</ref> The campaign in the Gaza is referred to by Israel as ]. | |||
On 20 August, Hamas official Saleh Al-'Arouri spoke at the conference of the ] in ], where he said the group's military wing was responsible for the kidnapping of the three Israeli teens, saying it was an expression of popular will.<ref>Orlando Crowcroft '']'' 21 August 2014.</ref> ], the Hamas leader, while recognizing that Hamas members were responsible, attempted to distance his organization from the killing two days later. Stating Hamas's opposition to killing civilians, he said the leadership had no advance knowledge of the abduction, which he regarded as a legitimate act by a frustrated people living under occupation, and that it had only learnt of its details from Israeli investigations.<ref>, ] 23 August 2014.</ref> | |||
In July, demolition orders were handed out to the Qawasmeh and Abu Eisheh families and to Husam Ali Al Qawasmeh who was not a suspect in the killing but arrested for being a Hamas members. Despite protests from human rights groups, the families homes were demolished in August, displacing 39 Palestinians.<ref name = "gicj">{{cite web|url=https://www.gicj.org/un-special-procedures-appeals/palestine/331-collective-punishment-in-palestine|title= Collective punishment in Palestine|date= 17 July 2014}}</ref> | |||
==Aftermath== | |||
Following the kidnappings and the escalating firing of missiles by Palestinian militants towards civilians in southern Israel, Israel decided to embark on Operation Protective Edge. On 3 July 2014, the Israeli Air Force conducted 15 air strikes in Gaza directed at Hamas targets in response to a rocket attack from Palestinian militants. The previous night, fifteen Palestinians were injured in the IAF strikes and two buildings ruined<ref name="haaretz.com">{{cite news |title= Live updates, July 2: Israel strikes Gaza; Sderot hit by rocket |newspaper=Haaretz |date =3 July 2014|url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.602557|access-date=4 July 2014}}</ref> ], became a ground war on 8 July 2014. | |||
On 11 July 2014, a series of bills in the ] and the ] was launched, attempting to solve the boys' murder, based upon Yaakov Naftali Fraenkel's dual US-Israeli citizenship. The new legislation would offer a $5 million reward for information on the abduction and murder.<ref name=A7-5MioUS$-Reward>US representative ] said "Naftali Frenkel was an American citizen who was killed by terrorists and the United States should not rest until his killers are brought to justice (..) amazingly, the Obama administration still supports this terrorist Palestinian government, even after the death of an American citizen" {{cite web|last1=Dvorin|first1=Tova|title=US Bill to Offer $5 Million Reward for Tips on Teens' Abduction|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/182786|website=israelnationalnews.com/News/|date=11 July 2014 |publisher=Arutz Sheva|access-date=14 July 2014}}</ref> | |||
==Accusations of collective punishment== | |||
On Day 7, The Palestinian Authority declared that the Israeli ] of clamping down on towns with closures and continual arrest of Hamas members constituted ].<ref>{{cite news |first=Marissa |last=Newsman |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/pa-accuses-israel-of-collective-punishment-in-west-bank/ |title=PA accuses Israel of 'collective punishment' in West Bank |newspaper=] |date=19 June 2014}}</ref><ref name="Oren"/> ] issued a statement on 19 June calling both for the release of the Israeli youths, their humane treatment while being held, and for Israel to lift several measures it defined as collective punishment in violation of the ] and ].<ref name="AI" /> | |||
According to '']'', "The Israeli security forces closed off the area around Hebron. Some 23,000 local Palestinians were barred from travelling to their jobs in Israel. A series of charitable organisations that used to be run by Hamas were closed down and a dairy, which employs hundreds of Palestinians, was demolished. Hebronites were prevented from travelling abroad."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21606288-murder-three-kidnapped-israeli-youths-has-set-dangerous-new-spate |title=Israelis and Palestinians: A vicious circle speeds up again |newspaper=The Economist}}</ref> | |||
In July 2014, the Geneva International Centre for Justice sent an urgent appeal to protest against the imminent house demolition of the homes of the extended families of the suspects and of Husam Ali Al Qawasmeh. The demolitions which the Centre designated as collective punishment would affect 39 people.<ref name = "gicj"/> | |||
Two scholars rejected the claim that the actions constituted collective punishment: | |||
* Robbie Sabel, a professor of ] at the ] and a former legal adviser to ], argued that Israel's actions shouldn't be considered collective punishment because they were aimed exclusively at finding the kidnapped teenagers and weakening the terrorist organizations behind their abduction and that in a search for kidnapped civilians, the arrests of members affiliated with the organization responsible for the kidnapping is legitimate.<ref name=TOI23614>{{cite news|last=Ahren|first=Raphael|title=Is Israel's operation to find kidnapped teens a war crime?|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/is-israels-operation-to-find-kidnapped-teens-a-war-crime |access-date=27 June 2014|work=The Times of Israel|date=23 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
* Eugene Kontorovich, international law professor at ] and Hebrew University said: "rounding up suspects, or potential witnesses, is not punishment, but rather rudimentary investigative process; especially when the crime is thought to be committed by a complex terror organization, the number of potential witnesses is high." Kontorovich cited as an example that police often arrest members of a gang after a crime to further investigate the perpetrators or criminal acts.<ref name=TOI23614 /> | |||
==Speculations on kidnapping motives== | |||
Elhanan Miller, writing for '']'' speculated that the motive for the kidnapping could have been to force Israel to release a large number of prisoners in exchange for the three teens. In 2011, Hamas had secured the release of over one thousand prisoners in exchange for ], whom they had captured five years prior.<ref name="Miller">{{Cite news |first=Elhanan |last=Miller |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/mahmoud-abbass-prisoners-dilemma/ |title=Mahmoud Abbas's prisoner dilemma |newspaper=] |date=17 June 2014|access-date= 4 July 2014}}</ref> | |||
Some 300 prisoners went on a hunger strike against the ] in ] without charges for six months or more, which Israel says is done in cases where the detainee poses an imminent security risk and publicizing the charges could endanger national security.<ref name=CSM>{{cite news |first=Christa Case |last=Bryant |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2014/0614/Why-were-kidnapped-Israeli-teens-hitchhiking-in-the-West-Bank-video |title=Why were kidnapped Israeli teens hitchhiking in the West Bank? |newspaper=] |date=14 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/diplomacy-defense/1554749318-hamas-founder-gets-six-month-detention-in-israel-without-trial | title=I24NEWS }}</ref> Many Palestinians support the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers and civilians in order to obtain the release of these prisoners.<ref name=CSM /><ref name="al-Jammal">{{cite news |first=Yusri |last=al-Jammal |url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-palestinian-israel-idUKKBN0EP0DX20140615 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306135030/http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-palestinian-israel-idUKKBN0EP0DX20140615 |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 March 2016 |title=Fearing three teens abducted, Israel escalates West Bank search with Abbas help |publisher=] |date=15 June 2014 |place=UK}}</ref> In 2011, Israel released more than a thousand Palestinians in detention, many convicted by Israeli courts for lethal attacks,<ref name="Isakersh">{{cite news |first=Isabel |last=Kershner |author-link=Isabel Kershner |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/17/world/middleeast/abduction-of-young-israeli-hitchhikers-spurs-debate-on-conduct.html |title=Abduction of Young Israeli Hitchhikers Spurs Debate on Conduct |newspaper=] |date=16 June 2014}}</ref> ], an Israeli soldier kidnapped by Palestinian militants.<ref name=CSM /> | |||
Some months before the 2014 incident, an 18-page manual on abduction techniques was published by Hamas. Entitled "Guide for the Kidnapper,” it provided an operational guide that outlined the use of pistols with silencers, the use of backup cars, the choice of conducting the abductions on rainy days, a command of Hebrew, the renting of hideouts in areas to avoid arousing suspicions and suggestions to refrain from announcing the outcome of the kidnapping until the victims were secured in a safe house.<ref name="Bar'el">{{cite news |first=Zvi |last=Bar'el |url=http://www.haaretz.com/.premium-1.598993 |title=Egypt cooperating with Israeli search efforts for kidnapped teens, while Hamas faces catch-22 |newspaper=] |date=16 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
The difficulty confronting the ], which has an ongoing debate on the issue, is the coordination between the PNA and Israeli security services, which makes executing such operations difficult.<ref name="Bar'el" /> Several prior incidents, such as the killings of Givati soldier Gal "Gavriel" Kobi and Baruch Mizrahi, a police intelligence officer, displayed exceptional, high-level skills, strict compartmentalization, and careful preparations for an escape route, features shared by the kidnapping. These elements resemble the carefully planned abductions of IDF soldiers by ] on Israel's northern border.<ref name="Harel2" /> | |||
Israel said that the IDF and the Shin Bet have foiled between 54<ref name="al-Ghoul">{{cite news |first=Asmaa |last=al-Ghoul |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/06/19/could-kidnapping-of-israeli-boys-lead-to-intifada |title=Could Kidnapping of Israeli Boys Lead to Intifada? |newspaper=] |date=19 June 2014 |quote=Ya'alon added that in 2013, more than 30 kidnapping attempts were foiled, and another 14 attempts since the beginning of this year.}}</ref> and 64 kidnapping plots since 2013. The PA said it had foiled 43 of them.<ref name="ToI2" /> The high success rate (95%) in blocking such plots is due to the very close cooperation between the security forces of both sides.<ref>{{cite news |first=Amos |last=Harel |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/06/26/bibi_and_the_lost_boys_netanyahu_israel_kidnapped_teenagers_abbas |title=Bibi and the Lost Boys |newspaper=] |date=26 June 2014 |quote=Since the end of the Second Intifada, around 2005, Israelis have grown to expect a success rate of almost 95 percent in stopping terrorist attacks before they occur. Most terror suspects in the West Bank are either arrested before they manage to do anything, or immediately thereafter. A major reason for this success has been the very close cooperation between Israel and Palestinian security officials – a relationship both sides prefer to keep as low-profile as possible.}}</ref> Hamas has put considerable effort into kidnapping attempts through its large network.<ref name="BoothEglash">{{cite news |first1=William |last1=Booth |first2=Ruth |last2=Eglash |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/israel-goes-after-hamas-in-west-bank-in-wake-of-teens-abduction/2014/06/18/d3576d56-adc5-4027-9a0b-90e570346543_story.html |title=Israel clamps down on Hamas in West Bank after abduction of three Jewish teenagers |newspaper=] |date=18 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
A week into the search for the missing youth, Avi Issacharoff cast doubts on the premise for West Bank operations, which in his view 'targeted the weak'—since Hamas has neither a large or strong presence there—and argued that the operational order, if there was one, came from either Gaza, or abroad, perhaps Ankara-based deportee Saleh al-Arouri, or ], who appeared to hint a month earlier in replying to a letter from an imprisoned Hamas leader, after Netanyahu reneged on releasing ],<ref name="Oren">{{cite news |first=Amir |last=Oren |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.600055 |title=West Bank kidnapping exposes Israel's disjointed security establishment |newspaper=] |date=20 June 2014}}</ref> that the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades would be his reply. Issacharoff concluded however that, "There isn't a smoking gun to prove the Hamas leadership is complicit in the kidnapping."<ref>{{cite news |first=Avi |last=Issacharoff |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/a-week-of-raids-and-arrests-but-no-hard-lead-to-the-kidnappers/ |title=A week of raids and arrests, but no hard lead to the kidnappers |newspaper=] |date=20 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
On 20 August, a Hamas official identified the West Bank Qawasmeh clan, a Hamas ally, for the kidnapping of the three Israeli teens and shared their motives. Saleh Al-'Arouri of the Hamas leadership delivered an address on behalf of ] at the conference of the ] in ]. In it he said: "Our goal was to ignite an ] in the West Bank and Jerusalem, as well as within the 1948 borders... Your brothers in the ] carried out this operation to support their imprisoned brothers, who were on a hunger strike... The ] captured these settlers in order to have a swap deal."<ref name="memritv.org">{{Cite web|url=https://www.memri.org/tv|title=MEMRI TV|website=MEMRI|accessdate=11 February 2024}}</ref> | |||
==Hitchhiking debate in Israel== | |||
As events unfolded, the dangerous nature of hitchhiking in what Israelis refer to as "the territories" prompted a debate, regarded by some in the settler and religious Zionist communities as a kind of ],<ref name="Pfeffer">{{cite news |first=Anshel |last=Pfeffer |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.598878 |title=Abductions won't stop settlers from hitchhiking |newspaper=] |date=15 June 2014}}</ref> about the practice of hitching rides on roads in the ], widely regarded as a cavalier and irresponsible habit for the costs involved in redeeming anyone who is captured.<ref name="CSM" /><ref name="Isakersh" /> The normal Israeli practice is one where drivers pull up, declaring their destination, and, by their accent, allowing potential hikers at ''trempiada'' (hitchhiking stations) an opportunity to examine the clues before they accept or decline a lift.<ref name="CSM" /> Such hitchhiking has long been a hallowed method of travel among Israelis,{{citation needed|date=August 2014}} but as abductions and killings of hitchhikers, mainly IDF soldiers, began to take root in the 1980s,{{citation needed|date=August 2014}} ] led to the passage of regulations that forbade military personnel from resorting to this method of travel.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}} To hammer the message home, recruits doing basic training are required now to view ]s that highlight the dangers, and military police "abduct" and punish recruits who do not take it seriously.<ref name="Pfeffer" /> | |||
Israeli governments have not regulated civilian recourse to hitchhiking, and laws delegate responsibility to parents, expecting them to advise their children.<ref name="CSM" /> The practice however remains widespread among the '']'' community of ] for several reasons: many of them, as in this case, have children boarding in West Bank settlements, where public transport facilities are poor.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}} ''Haaretz'' reported that for mitzvah-observant adolescents, it is "a rite of passage, a way of life, a declaration of independence and of ownership of the land."<ref name="Pfeffer" /> Retired Brigadier General, Nitzan Nuriel, a former counter-terrorism officer in the Prime Minister's Office, declared on Israeli television that hitchhiking had an ideological edge: it made a statement about who owns the territory.<ref name="Isakersh" /> | |||
==Reactions== | |||
==={{Flag |Israel}}=== | |||
One anonymous Israeli government official stated to '']'' news agency that Israel was looking to use the search as an opportunity for a wider crackdown on Hamas, and were looking into the legal aspects of deporting Hamas leaders from the West Bank.<ref name=Rts>{{cite news|last=Sawafta |first=Ali |title=Israel expands West Bank hunt for missing teens, Palestinian killed|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-palestinian-israel-idUSKBN0ER05F20140616|access-date=16 June 2014|publisher=Reuters}}</ref> A Hebrew-language Facebook page calling on PM Netanyahu to assume his responsibilities and requesting that a Palestinian "terrorist" be executed every hour until the three youths are restored to their families, gained 10,000 thumb-ups within hours.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=705004 |title=Thousands join online campaign to kill Palestinian 'terrorists' |publisher=] |newspaper=] |date=15 June 2014 |access-date=16 June 2014 |archive-date=18 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140618202744/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=705004 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=Indy>{{cite news |last=Dearden |first=Lizzie|title=Facebook campaign calls on Israelis to kill a Palestinian terrorist every hour until missing teenagers found|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/online-campaign-calling-on-israelis-to-kill-a-palestinian-terrorist-every-hour-until-missing-teenagers-found-9540604.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/online-campaign-calling-on-israelis-to-kill-a-palestinian-terrorist-every-hour-until-missing-teenagers-found-9540604.html |archive-date=1 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=16 June 2014|work=The Independent}}{{cbignore}}</ref> | |||
With a perception in Israel, expressed by Thane Rosenbaum, that the sympathy long lavished on Israel was dwindling,<ref>{{cite news |first=Thane |last=Rosenbaum |url=http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.600583 |title=The world's cruel indifference to Israel's plight |newspaper=] |date=23 June 2014}}</ref> the government stepped up ] efforts abroad, especially in Brazil where the ] was then the focus of much of the world's attention. An aircraft trailed a #BringBackOurBoys banner along a Rio de Janeiro beach. The families of the missing boys went to Geneva to address the ].<ref>{{cite news |first=Itamar |last=Eichner |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4533679,00.html |title=Missing teens' families to address UN Human Rights Council |publisher=] |date=23 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
* On television, Netanyahu declared that "Anyone trying to harm Israeli civilians will be harmed in return."<ref name="Zitun" /> | |||
* Israel's Economic Minister ] said Israel will make membership of Hamas a 'ticket to hell', branding it one 'of the most "lethal, barbaric organizations in the world." Both the PA and Hamas, he affirmed, formed a 'complete culture where Israel is Satan.'<ref>{{cite news |first=Gavriel |last=Fiske |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/bennett-promises-ticket-to-hell-for-hamas-members/ |title=Bennett promises 'ticket to hell' for Hamas members |newspaper=] |date=17 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
* 15 June. Moshe Ya'alon cited the kidnapping as "additional testimony to the cruelty and seething hatred that guides the terror groups in our region."<ref name="Ginsburg" /> | |||
* 'Israel has decided to perform a root canal to uproot everything green in the West Bank,' reported on Israel's Army Radio, green being the colour of Hamas.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}} | |||
* Israel's ambassador to Italy, ], declared that "Europe backs Hamas' government and the kidnapping of children and Israeli civilians."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706197 |title=Israeli ambassador: Europe supports kidnapping children |publisher=] |date=19 June 2014 |access-date=20 June 2014 |archive-date=14 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714230402/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=706197 |url-status=dead }}</ref> | |||
* 'We're witnessing the unrestrained brutality of Islamic terrorism, both in Israel and around us.' Netanyahu to ].<ref name="Yoav Zitun6">{{cite news |first=Yoav |last=Zitun |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4532868,00.html |title=We're witnessing the unrestrained brutality of Islamic terrorism |publisher=] |date=21 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
* 'Not only are the kidnappers terrorists, but so is ]'. ], writing in Facebook of his Knesset colleague.<ref name="ToI" /> | |||
* Rabbi ] said the abduction was God's punishment for anti-religious legislation in the Knesset and Israel's readiness to abandon parts of the ]. ] countered: If so, why did God arrange for religious boys to be kidnapped if he was angry with secular Israelis?<ref>{{cite news |first=Meir Halevi |last=Siegel |url=http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/rav-dov-lior-abduction-was-divine-punishment/2014/06/19/0/%3Fprint |title=Rav Dov Lior: Abduction was Divine Punishment |publisher=] |date=19 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
* The ] '']'' claimed that government policies aimed at drafting ''yeshiva'' students into the army against their will was the cause of the abductions.<ref>{{cite news |first=Jeremy |last=Sharon |url=http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-Features/Haredi-daily-Kidnappings-result-of-government-organized-abductions-of-Torah-students-359841 |title=Haredi daily: Kidnappings result of 'government-organized abductions' of Torah students |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post |date=19 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
* 15 June. Jews and Muslims who work fields as part of the Shorashim/Judhur cooperative project near where the kidnapping took place met and discussed their distress for several hours.<ref name="Elmiller">{{cite news |first=Elhanan |last=Miller |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/at-kidnapping-site-jews-and-muslims-join-in-prayer/ |title=At kidnapping site, Jews and Muslims join in prayer |newspaper=] |date=17 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
* 17 June. Jews many from the Gush Etzion and Muslims held a joint prayer session at the kidnapping site. Rabbi ] said Islamic clerics were concerned and demanded the youths' immediate release, and Israel's distress was shared by Palestinians. Jerusalem Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Hawa recited the ] chapter of the ], adding that 'there is a wall between our two nations, and we hope to remove the wall separating the hearts of humans.'<ref name="Elmiller" /> | |||
* In an interview with '']'' Yishai Fraenkel, uncle of the missing Naftali Fraenkel, recounted that he had received "no few messages of support and encouragement from Palestinian sources" who had said they were repulsed by the kidnapping and were "praying for the boys' welfare."<ref name=Globes>{{cite news|last=Shay|first=Izhar|title=Palestinians tell me they're repulsed by the kidnapping|url=http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-palestinians-tell-me-theyre-repulsed-by-the-kidnapping-1000947171 |access-date=18 June 2014|work=Globes|date=17 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
* Human rights organization ] condemned the kidnapping of the three students and called for their immediate release, saying "any deliberate attack against civilians is absolutely prohibited." They also cautioned Israeli authorities to uphold human rights and avoid collective punishment of the local population in their efforts to bring the students home safely.<ref>{{cite news|title=Those holding the three yeshiva students must release them at once; Israeli security forces must uphold human rights and avoid collective punishment|url=http://www.btselem.org/press_releases/20140615_the_three_yeshiva_students_must_be_released_at_once|work=B'Tselem|date=15 June 2014}}</ref> Later B'Tselem condemned the killing of the three students by saying "deliberate targeting of civilians undermines all moral, legal and human principles. The deliberate killing of civilians is defined as a grave breach of international humanitarian law, and cannot be justified, regardless of the circumstances."<ref>{{cite news |title=B'Tselem strongly condemns the abduction and killing of the three Yeshiva students|url=http://www.btselem.org/press_releases/20140630_abduction_and_killing_of_three_yeshiva_students|work=B'Tselem|date=30 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
* Knesset Member ], a Palestinian, stated that the kidnappers were not terrorists, but frustrated people resorting to such measures 'until the citizens of Israel and the public sober up and relate to the suffering of others,' mentioning the mothers of Palestinians who are being detained without trial.<ref>{{cite news |first=Spencer | last=Ho |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/mk-assailed-for-saying-kidnappers-not-terrorists/ |title=MK assailed for saying kidnappers not terrorists |work=] |date=17 June 2014 |access-date=10 July 2014}}</ref> | |||
* 'Three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped, but the two Palestinian kids who were killed were not even mentioned ? The blood of Jews is more precious than the blood of Palestinians?' Hanin Zoabi.<ref name="ToI">{{cite news |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/mk-assailed-for-saying-kidnappers-not-terrorists-2/ |title=Hanin Zoabi: IDF operation in West Bank is terrorism |newspaper=] |date=21 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
* On 1 July 2014, settlers started two new ], one on a hilltop in the ] near ] and the other near ].<ref name=CPT_responds /> | |||
* In late August, the ], acting on political instruction,<ref name="AFPYN">AFP, {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904121023/https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/24859893/israel-plans-to-expropriate-400-hectares-of-west-bank-army/ |date=4 September 2014 }} ] 1 September 2014.</ref> announced it was confiscating 988 acres (1.54 square miles) of privately owned Palestinian land south of ],<ref name="Ma'anS" /><ref>Renee Lewis, Al-Jazeera, 31 August 2014.</ref> as a response to the killing of the teens. ] described the move as an "appropriate Zionist response to murder,” adding: "What we did yesterday was a display of Zionism. Building is our answer to murder."<ref name="AFPYN" /><ref name="BeaumontS" /><ref name="Reuters" >], 1 September 2014: 'Israeli media reported the move was in response to the kidnapping and murder of the three Israeli teens.'</ref> The U.S. rebuked the move as 'counter-productive', while France condemned it and Britain deplored the decision stating that it 'would seriously damage Israel's international reputation.'<ref name="Reuters" /> Defining the area as state land rather than private Palestinian land was hailed by the ] settlements council as an opportunity to build up ], an illegal ] of 16 families.<ref name="Ma'anS" > {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140901102320/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=724585 |date=1 September 2014 }} ] 31 August 2014.</ref><ref name="BeaumontS" >Peter Beaumont, '']'' 1 September 2014.</ref> Robert Fisk stated that it was the first time Palestinian land had been seized, not on God's warrant, or security grounds, or because of deed of title, but for revenge, a measure which set a dangerous precedent.<ref>], ] 2 September 2014.</ref> | |||
====Social media in Israel==== | |||
] | |||
A ] campaign was started soon after the kidnapping advocating for the safe return of the teens under the ] #BringBackOurBoys. According to Robert Mackey, the campaign was initiated by a "group of Israelis trained to promote their country online"<ref name=NYTRM>{{cite news|last1=Mackay|first1=Robert|title=Israelis Start #BringBackOurBoys Campaign|url=http://news.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/17/israelis-start-bringbackourboys-campaign/ |access-date=21 June 2014|work=The New York Times|date=17 June 2014 }}</ref> The campaign's label attempted to make the link between the then-recent #BringBackOurGirls campaign following the ] in Nigeria. One of the organizers stated the social media effort "is simply a cry out to the world to bring those boys back,” adding that "We're only trying to do whatever we can to help the international community to put pressure to release those kids."<ref name="AP">{{cite news |publisher=] |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/search-for-missing-teens-intensifies-israeli-pm-urges-abbas-to-end-pact-with-hamas-1.1872447 |title=Israel leader wants world pressure on Palestinians |agency=AP|date=17 June 2014}}</ref> On 15 June, around 25,000 people gathered for a prayer at the ] for the release of the kidnapped teenagers.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Megnazi |first1=Avail |last2=Morag |first2=Gilad |date=16 June 2014 |title=Rabbi Lau: Israeli nation will never break |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4530769,00.html |publisher=] |access-date=16 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
====Violent Israeli reactions==== | |||
On the night of 1 July a Palestinian family registered a complaint at police concerning an attempt to kidnap their child, 10-year-old Moussa Zalum, on ]'s main street in Jerusalem. At the time, they reported, he was walking with his mother and brother when a car stopped and people tried to pull him into the vehicle. The child managed to wriggle free, and the car sped off.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/headlines-breaking-stories/244703/burned-body-of-arab-found-in-jerusalem-forest.html |title=Burned Body of Arab Found in Jerusalem Forest |newspaper=] |date=3 July 2014}}</ref> | |||
After the bodies of the three boys were found, settlers attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank were reported. Settlers from ] in Hebron were in the streets, attacking Palestinians and internationals. The Border Police stormed the hill towards the gathered crowd of Palestinians and internationals, exploded a sound grenade and injured a Palestinian in the following clash.<ref name=CPT_responds>{{cite news |url=http://www.cpt.org/cptnet/2014/07/01/al-khalil-hebron-cpt-palestine-responds-incidents-occurring-after-teenagers%E2%80%99-bodie |place=Al-Khalil (Hebron) |title=CPT Palestine responds to incidents occurring after teenagers' bodies discovered |publisher=CPT |date=1 July 2014 |access-date=5 July 2014 |archive-date=8 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140708232107/http://www.cpt.org/cptnet/2014/07/01/al-khalil-hebron-cpt-palestine-responds-incidents-occurring-after-teenagers%E2%80%99-bodie |url-status=dead }}</ref> | |||
{{main|Kidnapping and murder of Mohammed Abu Khdeir}} | |||
On 2 July a 16-year-old Palestinian from ], Mohammed Abu Khdeir, was killed; preliminary results from the autopsy suggest he was burnt alive. The boy's family believes the killing to be an act of revenge from Jewish settlers for the murder of the three Israeli teenagers.<ref name="khdair">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28174519|title=Palestinian Mohammad Abu Khdair 'was burned alive'|work=BBC News|date=5 July 2014}}</ref> Netanyahu urged a swift inquiry into the "reprehensible murder" and called on people to respect the rule of law.<ref>{{cite news |title=Palestinians say Israeli extremists killed teen |url=http://westhawaiitoday.com/news/nation-world-news/palestinians-say-israeli-extremists-killed-teen |newspaper=West Hawai'i Today}}</ref> | |||
On the evening of 3 July, Palestinians of Shu'fat reported to the Israeli police that four settlers from ] had attempted to kidnap a 7-year-old local child, and had fled on being thwarted.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=709927 |title=Locals: Settlers try to kidnap 7-year-old in Beit Hanina |publisher=] |date=4 July 2014 |access-date=6 July 2014 |archive-date=10 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140710071921/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=709927 |url-status=dead }}</ref> On Friday Palestinians of ] near ] in the ] complained that one of them, 22-year-old Tariq Ziad Zuhdi Adeli, had been sprayed with a gas by settlers, abducted in a car, taken outside the village and then sustained injuries from a hatchet attack to his legs.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=710084 |title=Locals: Settlers 'abduct, attack' Palestinian near Nablus |publisher=Ma'an News Agency |date=5 July 2014 |access-date=6 July 2014 |archive-date=8 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140708150902/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=710084 |url-status=dead }}</ref> | |||
Three days later, a video was aired, that appeared as the beating up of 15-year-old American citizen Tariq Abu Khdeir by Israeli security forces. Tariq, a second-cousin of murdered Mohammed Abu Khdeir, is a student who attends Universal Academy of Florida high school in Tampa, Florida.<ref name="Kadir">{{cite web|url=http://www.wtsp.com/story/news/local/2014/07/05/tampa-teenager-beaten-and-jailed-in-israel/12238105/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140705154456/http://www.wtsp.com/story/news/local/2014/07/05/tampa-teenager-beaten-and-jailed-in-israel/12238105/|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 July 2014|title=Tampa teen beaten, jailed in Jerusalem|publisher=WTSP|date=5 July 2014|access-date=6 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.channel4.com/news/israel-palestine-teenager-beaten-police-video-jerusalem |title=Video shows Israeli police beating Palestinian teenager |date=5 July 2014 |publisher=]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/posttv/national/us-teen-allegedly-beaten-detained-in-israeli-prison/2014/07/05/4a1259cc-0470-11e4-ae91-d5e5645b17c1_video.html |title=US teen allegedly beaten, detained in Israeli prison |date=5 July 2014 |newspaper=]}}</ref> Israeli authorities then detained Tariq. The US State Department called for "a speedy, transparent and credible investigation and full accountability for any excessive use of force."<ref name=US-state-dept>{{cite web|last1=Psaki|first1=Jen|title=Detention of Tariq Khdeir|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2014/07/228774.htm|website=Press Releases: July 2014|publisher=US Department of State|access-date=5 July 2014}}</ref> Israeli Border Police started an official investigation on 5 July.<ref name=haaretz-tariq>{{cite news|title=Beaten Palestinian youth is US citizen, cousin of murdered kidnap victim |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.603184 |access-date=5 July 2014 |work=Haaretz|date=5 July 2014}}</ref> | |||
==={{PSE}}=== | |||
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, defying widespread popular Palestinian support for the kidnapping as a means of securing the release of ],<ref name="Miller"/> criticized the action, saying the youths must be returned,<ref>{{cite news|last=Dónzis|first=Aron|title=Abbas: Kidnapped youths 'must be returned'|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/abbas-kidnapped-youths-must-be-returned |access-date=20 June 2014|work=The Times of Israel|date=18 June 2014}}</ref> and that ] security was cooperating with Israel to try to locate them.<ref>{{cite news|last=Miller|first=Elhanan|title=Cooperation with PA on kidnapping 'professional,' army official says|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/cooperation-with-pa-on-kidnapping-professional-army-official-says|access-date=20 June 2014|work=The Times of Israel|date=17 June 2014}}</ref> Abbas' office released a statement condemning the kidnapping and the Israeli response of raids and arrests.<ref name=Rts /> At US urging, Abbas was working closely with Israel to coordinate the search for the teens.<ref name =WP>{{cite news|last=Booth|first=William|title=Palestinian President Abbas condemns kidnapping of Israeli teens|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/palestinian-president-abbas-condemns-kidnapping-of-israeli-teens/2014/06/16/477fa638-f557-11e3-a606-946fd632f9f1_story.html |access-date=16 February 2014|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> A PA spokesman stated that holding Palestinian authorities responsible for kidnappings in Area C of the West Bank, where Israel exercises full military control and prohibits a Palestinian police presence places the PA in an impossible position.<ref name="Booth"/> | |||
The Palestinian Authority's official newspaper marked the kidnapping with a cartoon that spoofed the World Cup logo. | |||
Three hands hold the globe in the FIFA World Cup logo, but in Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, three hands held small helpless figures with their hands up in surrender. While the World Cup logo says "Brazil" under it, the spoof says Khalil, the Arabic name for Hebron, a city near the site of the kidnapping.<ref name="jewishnews1">{{cite news |url=http://www.jewishnews.net.au/pa-cartoon-glorifies-kidnapping/35689 |title=PA cartoon glorifies kidnapping |newspaper=] |date=19 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
A cartoon on a Fatah Facebook page presented the three kidnapped Israeli teenagers as rats caught on three hooks on a fishing rod. Each rat was emblazoned with a Star of David, and the title of the cartoon read "Masterstroke." A picture on the same Facebook page showed a hand with words written on three of the fingers. Read in succession they said: "Three Shalits, long live Palestine."<ref name="jewishnews1" /><ref name="Mahmoud Abbas's prisoner dilemma,">{{cite news |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/mahmoud-abbass-prisoners-dilemma/ |title=Mahmoud Abbas's prisoner dilemma,' |newspaper=] |date=17 June 2014}}</ref><ref name="israelnationalnews.com">{{cite news |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/181726 |title=Sick: Fatah Posts Cartoon Mocking Kidnapped Teens as 'Rats' |newspaper=] |date=15 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
Hamas spokesmen Sami Abu Zuhri and Fawzi Barhoum criticized the PNA collaboration with Israel to track down the culprits,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Miller|first1=Elhanan|title=Hamas and Fatah clash over conciliatory Abbas speech|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-and-fatah-clash-over-conciliatory-abbas-speech|access-date=20 June 2014|work=The Times of Israel|date=19 June 2014}}</ref> and Barhoum called the kidnappers "heroes."<ref name="al-Jammal"/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4530169,00.html |title=Hamas angered by PA help in search for missing teens |agency=Reuters |publisher=] |date=14 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
In social media, many Palestinians criticized what they see as the strong emphasis placed by Israel on the teenagers' disappearance to the detriment of Palestinian suffering, citing the case of two Palestinian boys shot dead by Israelis at a protest in ] during a ] protest on 15 May 2014.<ref name="CSM2" /> | |||
On ], in response to the IDF campaign, Palestinian sympathizers appropriated the hashtag as their own, drawing attention to both Palestinian prisoners in Israeli goals and Palestinian children killed by Israeli actions. One mentioned 5,271 Palestinian political prisoners, 192 administrative detainees, 17 women and 196 children.<ref>{{cite news |first=Howard |last=Koplowitz |url=http://m.ibtimes.com/bringbackourboys-idf-hashtag-sparks-palestinian-outrage-twitter-1601370 |title=#BringBackOurBoys IDF Hashtag Sparks Palestinian Outrage on Twitter |newspaper=The ] |date=14 June 2014 |access-date=15 June 2014 |archive-date=15 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715030823/http://m.ibtimes.com/bringbackourboys-idf-hashtag-sparks-palestinian-outrage-twitter-1601370 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Senior Hamas and Islamic Jihad officials have stated that kidnapping Israeli soldiers and settlers is the only route to obtain the release of Palestinian prisoners.<ref>{{cite news |last =Harel|first =Amos|title=Missing teens: Time is not on their side|url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.598633|access-date=16 June 2014|work=Haaretz |date=13 June 2014|ref=Hz}}</ref> Palestinian ] and Hamas activists called on Palestinian shopkeepers and businessmen in Hebron, via Facebook, Twitter and other social media, to destroy any CCTV footage that could be used by Israel to help locate the teens. Fatah activists in Hebron also confiscated security cameras in order to frustrate the search.<ref name=cctv>{{cite news |first=Khaled Abu |last=Toameh |url=http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Palestinian-activists-call-for-destruction-of-CCTV-footage-in-attempt-to-frustrate-IDF-search-359321 |title=Palestinian activists call for destruction of CCTV footage in attempt to frustrate IDF search |newspaper=] |date=15 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
In the Gaza Strip, families of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel celebrated the kidnapping by handing out sweets to passersby from a protest tent that had been erected to express solidarity.<ref name=cctv/><ref>{{Citation |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4530227,00.html |title=Gaza residents celebrate at news of missing Israeli teens |newspaper=] |date=14 June 2014|last1=Kais |first1=Roi }}</ref> Gazan Palestinians also released a song on social networks mocking the kidnappings, and called for additional abductions.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4530419,00.html |title=Hamas video: Fight against Israeli forces in West Bank |publisher=] |date=15 June 2014}}</ref> A Palestinian group mounted a video on YouTube parodying the abduction, in a fictional scenario featuring an "Abu Saqer el Khalili Brigades, the Kick Ass Branch,” apparently taking the event to be an Israeli plot with Arab complicity while mocking Islamic extremism.<ref>{{cite news |first=Spencer |last=Ho |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinians-parody-kidnapping-in-video/ |title=Palestinians parody kidnapping in video |newspaper=] |date=23 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
* Hamas parliamentarian Salah Bardawil: "We are capable of igniting a third Intifada which is an irrevocable right that will go off when more pressure is exerted on the Palestinian people."{{cn|date=December 2020}} | |||
* "I don't plan to punish anyone based on suspicions or because Netanyahu claims something. If Netanyahu has information, he should update me and we'll take care of it according to our laws." Mahmoud Abbas.<ref name="ToI2" /> | |||
* "The world cannot stand by while Israel, the occupying power, commits such grave breaches of international law." ].<ref name="Jorud" /> | |||
===International=== | |||
*{{Flag|United Nations}} ] Ban Ki-moon released a statement condemning the abduction, expressing "deep concern on the trend toward violence on the ground and attendant loss of life, including today of a child in Gaza as a result of a recent Israeli airstrike." He expressed solidarity with the families of the abducted, called for their immediate release and called for restraint on both sides.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/un-chief-ban-ki-moon-equates-kidnapping-to-israeli-defense/2014/06/15/ |title=UN chief Ban Ki-moon Equates kidnapping to Israeli Defense |publisher=] |date=15 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first1=Yair |last1=Ettinger |first2=Chaim |last2=Levinson |first3=Barak |last3=Ravid |first4=Gili |last4=Cohen |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.598771 |title=Kidnapped teens believed still in West Bank |newspaper=] |date=15 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/un-chief-condemns-kidnapping-of-teens-in-west-bank/ |title=UN chief condemns kidnapping of teens in West Bank |newspaper=]|date=15 June 2014}}</ref> After the dead bodies were found, Ban Ki-moon condemned the murders of the three Israeli teenagers, calling them a "heinous act by enemies of peace that aim to entrench division and distrust and widen the Middle East conflict."<ref name="JPost" /> | |||
* In response to proposals in the Security Council to make a statement to the press condemning the kidnapping, and the collective punishment and deaths of Palestinians, no agreement could be found:<ref>{{cite news |agency=] |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4533818,00.html |title=US, Jordan in disagreement at UN over Israel condemnation |publisher=] |date=24 June 2014}}</ref> the US representative ] said that any direct criticism of Israel in the statement would constitute a 'red line' for Americans.<ref>{{cite news |publisher=] and ] |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/un-fails-to-condemn-palestinian-deaths-in-west-bank-raids/ |title=US prevents UN condemnation of Israel over West Bank deaths |newspaper=] |date=23 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
* {{Flag|United States}} said that it was "very concerned" about the well-being of the teens, and that it was working with Israel and the Palestinian Authority to resolve the situation.<ref name=spain/> After the dead bodies of the three teenagers were found, the US Secretary of State ] made a statement saying "the news of the murder of these three Israeli teenagers—Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach—is simply devastating. We all had so much hope that this story would not end this way." ] ] responded to the deaths by sending his condolences to the families of the teenagers and condemning the "senseless act of terror against innocent youth."<ref name="JPost">{{cite news |url=http://www.jpost.com/National-News/LIVE-BLOG-The-search-for-the-kidnapped-teens-359360 |title=LIVE BLOG: Search for Israeli teens ends in tragedy |work=] |date=1 July 2014}}</ref> | |||
* {{Flag |Canada}}'s ] ] expressed deep concern over the event and urged Palestinian security authorities, "who have been trained through Canadian and US leadership,” to make every effort to ensure the safe return of the children to their families.<ref name=spain>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/us-canada-and-spain-express-concern-over-kidnapping/ |title=US, Canada and Spain express concern over kidnapping |newspaper=The Times of Israel |date=15 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
* {{Flag|United Kingdom}} After the dead bodies of the three teenagers were found, ] ] described their deaths as an "appalling and inexcusable act of terror."<ref name="Cameron">{{cite news |url=http://www.itv.com/news/update/2014-06-30/pm-deaths-of-israeli-teenagers-an-appalling-act-of-terror/ |title=PM: Deaths of Israeli teens an appalling act of terror |publisher=] |date=1 July 2014}}</ref> | |||
* {{Flag |France}} President ] released a statement saying he was "shocked,” "strongly condemn the cowardly murder,” and "extend his sincere condolences to their families and to the Israeli people and authorities."<ref name="francoishollande">{{cite web |url=http://www.ambafrance-uk.org/Francois-Hollande-condemns-murder |title=François Hollande condemns murder of three young Israelis |publisher=Ambafrance-UK |place=Paris |date=2 July 2014 |access-date=2 July 2014 |archive-date=12 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150112072246/http://www.ambafrance-uk.org/Francois-Hollande-condemns-murder |url-status=dead }}</ref> He attended that he "express his concern in the face of the increased violence in the West Bank and Gaza,” "condemn the rocket fire from Gaza into Israeli territory,” and "call for everything to be done to prevent any further casualties and the risk of an escalation of violence."<ref name="francoishollande" /> | |||
* {{Flag |Spain}} condemned the kidnapping, along with ], and called for restraint.<ref name=spain/> | |||
* {{Flag |Netherlands}} After the dead bodies of the three teenagers were found, Dutch Foreign Minister ] issued a statement saying that the Dutch government heard the news of the murder "with profound sadness and horror. These boys were in the prime of their lives and have been the victim of a horrific crime. The government of the Netherlands hopes that their killers will be apprehended soon and brought to justice."<ref name="JPost" /> | |||
* {{Flag |European Union}}'s ambassador to Israel tweeted that he was "deeply concerned" about the events and was hoping for the safe return of the teens.<ref name=spain/> ]'s ] condemned the kidnapping after five days, in the wake of Israeli official expressions of disappointment.<ref>{{cite news |first=Herb |last=Keinon |url=http://www.jpost.com/Pillar-of-Defense/After-five-days-EU-condemns-kidnapping-of-Israeli-teens-359616 |title=After five days, EU condemns kidnapping of Israeli teens |newspaper=] |date=17 June 2014}}</ref> On 28 June the EU reiterated its call for the safe return of the youths. It regretted the increasing violence, particularly the killing of several Palestinians, and called on Israel to only use ] in its search. It praised the Palestinian security services for their help in searching for the abductees, and condemned Hamas for praising the kidnapping.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/eu-urges-israeli-restraint-in-search-for-abductees/ |title=EU urges Israeli restraint in search for abductees |newspaper=] |date=29 June 2014}}</ref> After the dead bodies of the three teenagers were found, the EU's ambassador to Israel, Lars Faaborg-Andersen, tweeted that he sent condolences to the Israeli government on the "despicable" murders, "with hope that perpetrators are soon arrested."<ref name="JPost" /> | |||
* {{Flag |Egypt}}'s foreign ministry released a statement asking ] to stop what it called "its collective punishment of the Palestinian people,” after it bombed dozens of sites in the Gaza Strip a day after the bodies of three missing Israeli teenagers were found. Egypt urged the Israeli forces to practice restraint and allow the Palestinian authorities to take on its responsibility in tracking the culprits, it also renewed its condemnation for all forms of violence that cause the death of civilians on both sides.<ref>{{cite news |first=Herb |last=Keinon |url=http://en.aswatmasriya.com/news/view.aspx?id=90f82c4f-be03-4d87-80f4-937588c3fed4 |title=Egypt urges Israel to stop collective punishment of Palestinians |publisher=] |date=1 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
* {{Flag |Colombia}}'s ] released a statement condemning the assassination of the 3 teenagers that had previously been kidnapped on 12 June while on the same statement declaring the murder as an act of terrorism. Colombia expressed its condolences to the families of the victims and called to "reflect, and ponder on this difficult moments, in accordance to international rights."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cancilleria.gov.co/newsroom/publiques/2014-07-01/9500|title=Cancillería expresa enérgica condena por el asesinato de los tres jóvenes israelíes |language=es |publisher=cancilleria.gov.co |date=1 July 2014 |access-date=11 July 2014}}</ref> | |||
* {{Flag |Nigeria}}'s President ] wrote to Netanyahu: .".. I assure you that we are in solidarity with you, as we believe that any act of terrorism against any nation or group is an act against our common humanity. We unequivocally condemn this dastardly act, and demand that the children are released unconditionally by their abductors."<ref>{{cite news|last=Lidman |first=Melanie |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/nigerian-leader-decries-dastardly-kidnapping-of-teens/ |title=Nigerian leader decries 'dastardly' kidnapping of teens |work=The Times of Israel |date=12 May 2014 |access-date=30 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
* {{Flag |Holy See}} The Vatican condemned the killing of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank as a "hideous and unacceptable crime" and an obstacle to peace, calling the news of the deaths "terrible and dramatic."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-palestinians-vatican-idUSKBN0F52FU20140630 |title=Vatican calls Israeli teenagers deaths hideous, threat to peace |publisher=Reuters |date=30 June 2014}}</ref> | |||
* ] envoy ] posted a tweet saying that the abduction and killing of "these three young people was a heinous and wicked thing to do."<ref name ="JPost" /> | |||
* Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said that ], France, Britain, ], ] and ] all condemned the kidnapping of three Israelis in phone conversations with him.<ref name ="JPost" /> | |||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
{{Portal|Israel|Palestine}} | |||
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*] (Hamas, 1989) | |||
*] (Hamas, 1992) | |||
*] (Hamas, 1993) | |||
*] (Hamas, 1994) | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
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==External links== | ==External links== | ||
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{{2014 Israel–Gaza conflict}} | |||
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Latest revision as of 05:45, 12 November 2024
Kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank31°39′17″N 35°07′20″E / 31.6547°N 35.1223°E / 31.6547; 35.1223
Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar, Naftali Fraenkel | |
Date | 12 June 2014 (2014-06-12) |
---|---|
Time | c. 22:00 IDT (UTC+03:00) |
Location | Gush Etzion, West Bank |
Outcome | The three kidnapped teenagers were murdered and their bodies found on 30 June. |
Deaths | Naftali Fraenkel, 16, from Nof Ayalon Gilad Shaer, 16, from Talmon Eyal Yifrah, 19, from El'ad |
Suspects | 2 Hamas members from Hebron: Marwan Qawasmeh (29) and Amar Abu-Isa/Amer Abu Aysha (32) |
The 2014 Gush Etzion kidnapping and murder refers to the abduction and killing of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank during June 2014. The victims, Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaer, and Naftali Fraenkel, were Israeli students aged 16 and 19. On the evening of 12 June 2014, the three teenagers were hitchhiking in the Alon Shvut settlement in Gush Etzion, in the West Bank when they were abducted.
The Israel Defense Forces immediately initiated Operation Brother's Keeper (Hebrew: מבצע שובו אחים, romanized: Mivtza Shuvu Ahim) in search of the three teenagers. On 30 June, their bodies were found in a shallow grave near the town of Halhul. Israeli authorities accused two members of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Marwan Qawasmeh and Amer Abu Aisha, of carrying out the abduction and murder. As part of the operation, Israel arrested around 350 Palestinians, including nearly all of Hamas' West Bank leaders. The suspects were killed during a standoff with Israeli security forces on 23 September 2014, leading to the end of the operation.
The incident gained significant international attention and escalated tensions between Israelis and Palestinians, leading to an increase in violence and retaliatory actions and eventually triggering the 2014 Gaza War.
Background
2013 was a calm period with the November 2012 ceasefire being largely respected, despite 50 rockets fired by Palestinians and 10 airstrikes by Israel. According to PCHR 44 Palestinians were killed and over 100 injured, while the Israeli Security Agency reported six Israeli fatalities (all but one from the West Bank) and 44 injuries. The first half of 2014 saw an increase in tension manifested by a higher rate of injuries. Among Palestinians there were 43 fatalities in the first half of the year plus 1860 injuries. Tension was also increased by Israel's opposition to the formation of a Hamas-Fatah unity government, with threats of sanctions and the burgeoning issue of prisoners and the violation of the Shalit agreement Mutual attacks on each other by Israel and Gaza continued, as did the Israeli blockade of Gaza.
Mainstream western media ascribe the initiation of the major 2014 conflict to the kidnapping of the three Israeli teenagers. Some news analysts believe that earlier clashes might also have played a role in the chain of events. On 15 May, two Palestinian teenagers were shot dead during the Nakba commemorations in the Beitunia killings. An autopsy report published on 9 June proved the death of one of them to be due to "live fire,” i.e. not "rubber bullets."
The Israeli Foreign Ministry web site emphasized rocket fire from Gaza as being the reason for the IDF mission into Gaza.
Victims
Eyal Yifrach, 19, lived in El'ad, Naftali Fraenkel (also spelled Frenkel), 16, was a dual Israeli-American citizen and lived in Nof Ayalon. Gilad Shaer was a resident of the Israeli settlement of Talmon. Eyal Yifrah was a student at the Shavei Hevron Yeshiva [he] on King David Street in Hebron. The other two were students of the Mekor Chaim yeshiva at Kfar Etzion in the West Bank's Area C under full Israeli administration.
Suspects
Initial suspected perpetrators
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Hamas killed the teenagers. But opinions were divided within Israel's security services as to whether or not the two suspects had direct ties to Hamas. On 26 June, the Israel Security Agency identified two Hamas members as key suspects in the kidnapping, whom Palestinian police noted, had gone missing since the night of the kidnapping. High-ranking members of Hamas denied that the group had any involvement or foreknowledge of the incident. The two named suspects hail from the Qawasameh clan, notorious for consistently acting against Hamas's policies. Hamas political chief Khaled Mashal said he could neither confirm nor deny the kidnapping of the three Israelis, and he congratulated the abductors, because "our prisoners must be freed from the prisons of the occupation."
Initially a number of groups, some previously unknown, claimed responsibility for the kidnappings: The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades (subsequently denied); a West Bank Branch of Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, Brigades of Global Jihad, Ahrar ar-Khalil (Liberators Battalion of Hebron), and Regiments of Hezbollah. It was not clear how true their claims were, and the middle three were not considered credible.
Suspects arrested
After the kidnap of the Israeli teens, Israel commenced Operation Brother's Keeper in the West Bank. Israel killed 9 Palestinians and raided 1300 properties including commercial and residential buildings. 800 Palestinians were arrested without immediate charge or trial. On 5 August 2014 Israel announced that Israeli security forces arrested Hussam Kawasme, in Shuafat, in connection with the murders. During interrogation, Kawasme admitted to being the mastermind behind the attack, in addition to securing the funding from Hamas. Kawasme stated that after the boys were killed, Marwan Kawasme and Amer Abu Aysha drove to his house, where the three proceeded to bury the victims in Halhoul, the land Kawasme purchased only a few weeks prior.
By the time of his arrest, Kaswasme had shaved his beard and received a fake passport, in what was believed to be part of a plan to escape to Jordan.
Officials stated that additional people arrested in connection with the murders were still being held, but no names were initially released.
On 20 August, Hamas member Saleh al-Arouri, who lived in Turkey, claimed Hamas's involvement in the abduction and murder. He continued to describe the perpetrators as heroic. Hugh Lovatt of the European Council on Foreign Relations labeled al-Arouri's claim was "suspicious", saying it might have reflected a desire to assert his relevance within the Hamas leadership or, alternatively, was accurate, reflecting a power struggle within Hamas itself. On 21 August Hamas leader Khaled Mashal congratulated the kidnapping, but claimed Hamas leadership had no prior knowledge of the abductions and murders and had learned about them through the Israeli military.
The following day, NGO Shurat HaDin contacted US Attorney General Eric Holder to request extradition of al-Arouri. Although Turkey and Israel do not have an extradition agreement, the US and Turkey do, which it can use to extradite those who commit terrorist acts against US citizens.
Suspects killed
The two suspects, Marwan Kawasme and Amar Abu Aysha, were staying in a house in Hebron, when IDF soldiers and Israeli counter-terrorism Yamam members surrounded the building at dawn on 23 September, in an attempt to arrest the suspects. Israeli forces opened fire on the building and reportedly called on the two suspects to come out. With no response the Israeli force began using a bulldozer to bring down the building. According to Israeli forces, one of the suspects partially rose out of a hole and began firing a rifle, whereupon Israeli forces shot him. After this suspect fell back into the home, likely dead, Israeli forces again opened fire on the house, utilizing grenades and other explosives this time, after which both men were confirmed deceased.
Both Hebron governor Kamel Hmeid and Hamas spokesman Salah Bardawil described the suspects as martyrs, with the latter belatedly insinuating that Hamas had in fact been responsible for the kidnap and murder of the three Israeli teens. Hamas leader Khaled Mashal also called the suspects "martyrs" and "heroes."
Investigation conclusion
The investigation concluded that the kidnapping operation's costs ran to NIS220,000, a sum procured by Hossam Hassan Kawasmeh (40), with the assistance of his brother, Mahmoud, who was exiled to the Gaza Strip in the Gilad Shalit exchange in November 2011, to purchase the two vehicles and weaponry. The cars were purchased from Nuh Abu-Eisha, and the weapons from Hamas operative Adnan Mahmad Izzat Zru (34), both Hebronites. Hossam Kawasmeh's attempt to escape to Jordan, thwarted when he was arrested in the Shuafat refugee camp on 11 July, was assisted by his relatives Hisham Kawasmeh (45) and Jamil Kawasmeh (38), as well as Hassan Kawasmeh (45), a Hamas militant. Two other Hebronites, Ahmad Ibrahim Mahmad Kawasmeh (64) and his brother, senior Hamas operative Arafat Ibrahim Mahmad Kawasmeh (50), were involved in helping the perpetrators go into hiding, the latter concealing them on his property. On 6 January 2015, Hussam Qawasmeh was sentenced to three life terms in prison for the murders, along with being assessed a compensation payment of $63,000 to the victims' families.
Sequence of events
Prelude
According to Israeli investigations, the seizure and killing of the three was organized by Hussam Qawasmeh, who had received $39,000 from his brother Mahmoud in Gaza, via a go-between still at large. The money financed the purchase of three M-16 rifles, a jeep, and the Israeli car, which was bought from a used-car dealer in Hebron after it was stolen from the settlement of Tzur Hadassah. Altogether, he met with Marwan five or six times before the kidnapping. The plan was to conceal one kidnapped Israeli in Marwan Qawasme's barbershop in Hebron, then transfer him to Marwan's aunt's vacant house. A first attempt on 10 June failed to find any hitchhikers. There was no intention to release the boys: from the outset the plan, considered amateurish and not professional, envisaged murdering the captives. The plot of land where they were buried had been purchased to that end some time earlier, and a refuge to escape detection had been prepared in an old house near Tufah where the two suspects hid in a disused cesspit for five days.
Week 1 (12–19 June)
Netanyahu asserted that the attack originated from PA-controlled areas, and criticized the Fatah-Hamas pact.
In the first week, Israel added a further three to the six combat brigades already present in the West Bank. Close to 40 battalions were engaged in rounding up suspects, notably the Paratroopers' 35th Division and the Kfir's 900th Division. Other specialized groups, such as the Duvdevan Unit, the Egoz Reconnaissance Unit and the Airborne Rescue And Evacuation Unit 669 supplement the search force. Skylark mini UAV drones were deployed, and the Yahalom combat engineering unit conducted tunnel searches. Fifty Bedouin IDF trackers were also used.
Day 1
Late into the night of Thursday, 12 June, teenagers Yifrach, Fraenkel, and Shaer were waiting at Geva'ot Intersection, west of the settlement of Alon Shvut in the Etzion Bloc south of Jerusalem, soon after 22:15, looking to catch a ride heading west on Route 367 toward Beit Shemesh and from there to locations in central Israel where each of them lived. The kidnappers intended to kidnap one Israeli. Apparently Yifrach, after accepting a ride, waved to the other two to join him. The Palestinians, afraid of giving their identity away if they spoke Hebrew, didn't dare object. After the car veered off from the declared direction of Ashkelon, the three realized they had been kidnapped. Shaer then telephoned the police at 22:25, whispering, "I've been kidnapped." Eight attempts were made to page the caller's cellphone, without checking its ownership, and his whispered remark was taken to be one of a number of pranks made that night. No check was made to find out the phone's owner, nor whether he was missing. Within days, Israeli investigators, though lacking conclusive proof, strongly suspected the teenagers had been killed, and, if so, knew where the victims' bodies would probably have been dumped. Subsequent analysis of the tape revealed what the police failed to realize at the time, that the murders had occurred while the hotline operator had been listening.
Four and a half hours passed before Shaer's family finally phoned the Talmon security coordinator at 3:10 am to inform him their son Gil-Ad had not returned home. Only then did the security establishment take the case seriously, and Shin Bet and the IDF were alerted by the police. According to the Palestinian Ma'an News Agency, the army succeeded in tracing the call to the Sanjar region, the last cellphone signal being made at 23:20 in the Hebron area, when Fraenkel's and Shaer's cellphones had been switched off. Meanwhile, at 1 a.m. on Friday morning, Marwan knocked on Hussam's door and said, "I've murdered three Jews."
A gag order regarding the abduction was immediately placed on Israeli news services. The presumed identities of the kidnappers, acolytes of senior Hamas members, were known almost from the beginning to everyone in Hebron, but kept from the Israeli public; in lieu of concrete details, rumours proliferated. Controversy soon raged in Israel over the police delay in reporting the call. At 11:00 on 13 June, a "Hannibal" alert (meaning 'kidnapping') was issued.
Based on cellphone and other data, Israeli investigators deduced that the kidnappers' car had stopped near Beit Kahil, west of Halhul, for 28 minutes. According to Palestinian security sources, a Hyundai i35, with seating for 5, with Israeli license plates, was torched on the night of 12 June, and subsequently found by Palestinian police 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from the village of Beit Einun near Hebron. This vehicle was believed to be connected to the abduction. Suspicion arose that the use of the car displaying Israeli license plates was a trick to lull the hitchhikers into believing the vehicle was driven by Israelis. Israeli authorities had placed the emergency call recording under a gag order, but it was leaked to the public, after which the gag order was partially lifted. It then emerged that after Gilad Shaer's whispered message "They kidnapped me," the taped emergency call also recorded a cry ("heads down!"), sounds of shouting, a volley of automatic fire, a weak voice sighing "Ai," silence, another volley of automatic fire and then singing. The burnt car discovered that morning yielded evidence of numerous blood-stains. Israeli police assumed correctly that bodies must have been buried in that vicinity. What they did not know was that the bodies had been taken from the provisional burial site and reburied 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) beyond the radius of research. Notwithstanding this, the Israeli authorities began to broadcast the message that the boys were abducted, not that they had been murdered.
Days 2–3
On 14–15 June, the Hebron and South Hebron Hills areas were the focus of investigations by a large number of troops. Soldiers numbering 2,500 together with security agents, police, and special forces, engaged in a manhunt, scouring numerous villages, including Beit Ummar, Beit Einun, Halhul, Dura, as-Samu, Tarqumiyah, Beit Kahil, Yatta, Taffuh, and Tapuah in what the IDF termed 'Operation Shuvu Achim (Return, Brothers/Bring Back Our Brothers),' and referred to in English as 'Brother's Keeper'. An anonymous "security source" claimed that little resistance was encountered because the local populations have become accustomed in recent years to regular night raids by the IDF. The sound of rubber-coated bullets and tear-gas canisters were heard.
Over the weekend, Israeli security forces also arrested around 80 Palestinians, among them senior members of Hamas, accused of being connected to the kidnapping, in a sweep that rounded up former government leaders, clerics, university lecturers, and militants of both Hamas and Islamic Jihad across the West Bank. In Hebron's Ein Deir Baha neighborhood Israeli forces broke down a door, apparently by firing a missile, after surrounding the house of Akram al-Qawasami. He, his 8-year-old son Muhammad and younger daughter Sujoud were injured by shrapnel, and two Hamas operatives, among them Zaid Akram al-Qawasami, were arrested inside. The military also fully closed the Hebron area and Gaza crossings, only allowing passage for humanitarian cases.
On Sunday, Netanyahu said what he had only hinted at previously, that Israel "knew for a fact" that the abduction had been carried out by Hamas, a position the IDF had avoided explicitly stating. He did, however, not provide any evidence. Security officials remained more cautious, tending to accept the probability that a Hebronite Hamas cell was involved, but uncertain whether it was a local initiative to secure prisoner releases or an operation approved by the Hamas leadership in Gaza. A remark by Moshe Ya'alon about the "very heavy price" Hamas leaders might pay was interpreted by one journalist as hinting Israel might be mulling the option of resuming its campaign of targeted killings, this time against the Hamas leadership. Israel's Deputy Minister of Defense, Danny Danon, threatened "possible actions" in Gaza and Ramallah.
Day 4
Overnight on 16 June, the IDF clashed with Palestinians in Jenin, where they ransacked the offices of Mustafa Barghouti's Palestinian National Initiative and confiscated computers. 400 soldiers raided the Jalazone refugee camp near Ramallah, killing Ahmad Arafat Samada (Ahmad Sabarin) (21) with a gunshot wound in the chest, after the Israeli army said he threw a brick at the Israeli soldiers. A dragnet rounded up a further 50 people, bringing the total of Palestinians detained to 150. Many arrests, including the former speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council Aziz Duwaik, 66, were part of what IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz described as an extensive operation, and were not linked to the search for the youths, but were part of a crackdown to apply pressure on Hamas. Netanyahu's approach was interpreted by some opponents as aimed at driving a wedge between Fatah and Hamas in order to break up the reconciliation between the two negotiated in April 2014, thereby discrediting both Abbas and his government, which had been backed by Western countries. PA sources noted that Hamas, in the unity negotiations, had undertaken to desist from attacks and bloodshed, and if its involvement were proven, it would be a breach of the agreement that would render the reconciliation null and void, a point repeated later in the week by the Palestinian Foreign Minister.
Day 5
Overnight 16–17 June, the IDF arrested more than 200 Palestinians. Anything linked to Hamas was being targeted, an official source said. The IDF shifted its attentions north, and deployed 1,000 soldiers from the Nahal Brigade for operations around Nablus. In particular the Balata refugee camp and the village of Awarta were scoured in what a spokesman called '"cleaning house" in the "terror capital of Nablus"', and a further 41 Palestinians were detained, among them the manager of the Hamas-run television channel Al-Aqsa TV, bringing the number of arrests to 200. Israeli soldiers confiscated a large cache of weapons and uncovered a weapons manufacturing lab in Nablus.
Conflicting reports emerged regarding Israel's collaboration with both the PNA and other regional governments. Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Yoav Mordechai, denied on 16 June that Israel coordinated the search with Palestinian or Egyptian authorities. However, Israel military intelligence confirmed that Israel was working closely with both the PA authorities and Egypt. Egyptian sources stated the same day that Israel had requested their assistance, and that President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi had issued directives to his security services to undertake negotiations with all parties. On 17 June, Israel defence sources said PNA assistance had been "very professional."
Day 6
On the night of 18 June, Israel seized 64 more Palestinians, of whom 51 were Hamas members who had been previously arrested but released in the Gilad Shalit exchange in 2011, bringing to 240 the number of arrests. In six days, government sources announced, they had searched 800 structures, including the Al-Aqsa radio station in Ramallah and the Hebron-based TransMedia communications company, both linked to Hamas. Operations had taken place in Hebron, Jenin, Nablus, Yatta, Taffuh, Dura, Beit Kahil, East Jerusalem, Idhna, Surif, Beit Ula, Beit Awwa, Deir Sharaf, Salfit, Audla, Tell, Beit Furik and Qabatiya. The overnight operations also secured the defenses of Israeli settlements. In the process, 300,000 Palestinians were left under curfew, and 600,000 in the area had their movements restricted, while Hebronites with permission to work in Israel, an estimated 20,000, were denied entrance into Israel, disrupting their livelihood. According to an IDF spokesman, Palestinians preparing for the Ramadan holiday had "taken a hit." Home Front Defense Minister Gilad Erdan also stated that Israel had identified the Hamas cell responsible for the kidnapping.
Day 7
Overnight on 19 June, troops raided the Bir Zeit University's student union searching for incriminating evidence, finding promotional material for Hamas. The Prime Minister declared at a press conference: "We know more today than we did a few days ago." The IDF arrested 25 wanted Palestinians in the West Bank, and searched 200 homes. Nine more raids were launched against Hamas social services (Dawah) centers. Moshe Ya'alon outlawed West Bank activities of the British Muslim charity, Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) because some of its offices employed Hamas members. In East Jerusalem, a social centre operated from a Beit Safafa mosque in Beit Safafa village, and a Sur Baher charity were also closed down. By night's end, 49 Palestinians had been arrested. One of the refugee camp detainees alleged that soldiers had stolen $580 from his wallet.
Week 2 (20–26 June)
Day 8
Throughout the week, the arrest of Hamas leaders went quietly as they acceded to their detention, but by Friday, 20 June, sporadic popular resistance began to emerge. Three Palestinians were wounded in a raid on Qalandiya refugee camp, near Jerusalem, while another five were wounded in clashes at the Dheisheh refugee camp by Bethlehem, whose Ibdaa cultural center was wrecked, cheques and money from its safe, together with five computers, confiscated. Four of the victims were reportedly run over by an Israeli jeep. Also on 20 June, Israeli soldiers near the Qalandiya checkpoint in Ramallah fired live rounds at a group of Palestinians who had thrown homemade grenades at them. Mustafa Hosni Aslan, 22, received a gunshot wound to the head, and died on 25 June. Live fire was used according to the IDF in response to Molotov cocktails, pipe bombs, one makeshift grenade, firecrackers, and stones being thrown at soldiers at the camps. In Dura's Haninia neighbourhood, after a night-long raid, involving many clashes with local youths, to detain a person Israelis consider to be a terrorist, as troops were withdrawing, eyewitness testimonies reported that a retreating Israeli soldier fired six shots and killed 15-year-old Mohammed Dudeen. Twenty-five more Palestinians were arrested at Dura and Dheisheh, bringing the number of detainees to 320, of which 240 are considered Hamas operatives. The number of sites searched mounted to 1,150, of which 1,000 buildings were damaged, the figure including over 750 homes. According to Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki Israel had destroyed 150 homes by week's end. In another dawn raid on the Dean's Office and Student Union of the Arab American University in Jenin papers were seized, and Amir Saadi, 17, was shot in the shoulder. The villages of Arraba, Al-Louz, and Artas were also raided.
Riyad al-Malki demanded Israel produce evidence that Hamas was culpable, stating that Netanyahu cannot "keep blaming one side without showing evidence." He said Israel's massive military sweeps were unacceptable, with 300 Palestinians taken in exchange for three Israeli kids, but the Palestinian authority would act to prevent an uprising, for "if the situation continues as it is, this will end up (with) the destruction of what we have built in Palestine."
On Friday night, Israeli security spokesmen said the "noose was tightening" as troops were concentrated near Hebron, with intelligence officials confident that attempts to move the youths to either Jordan, Gaza, or the Sinai had failed. A spokesman for the Prime Minister, Amos Gilead, stated that Netanyahu's view that Hamas was responsible was "built on the base of firm intelligence." IDF forces ransacked Bethlehem's biggest Islamic charity, devoted to orphan's care, in the Jabal al-Mawalih neighborhood and took away computers and files.
Day 9
On 21 June, Israeli forces concentrated their investigations on villages north of Hebron, searching wells, pits, and houses. According to Palestinian reports, an elderly man, Ali Abed Jabir, either died during an altercation with Israeli troops who broke into his home while ransacking houses in the village of Haris, or was denied passage for medical treatment after suffering a heart attack. Israel sources state the house was not raided and, on being told of the heart-attack, an Israeli ambulance was called. A further 39 Palestinians, primarily in Hebron and Bethlehem, were arrested in overnight raids, bringing the number seized to roughly 370, 75 of whom had been released in the 2011 prisoner swap. IDF sources challenged the report, saying only 10 Hamas 'terrorists' were seized. Further claims of soldiers stealing money were made by villagers in Beit Kahil. In the village of al-Bireh, several houses were ransacked, and soldiers broke into the Noon Center for Islamic Studies and the Palmedia TC company where they confiscated computers and damaged furniture. The IDF said cash had been confiscated in 21 homes of the 146 homes searched overnight. Palestinian sources also stated that in a predawn raid in Nablus, a female reporter was assaulted and troops shot and injured two Palestinian teenagers. In the late afternoon three fire trucks, with pumps to empty pools of water, and an ATV rescue unit were rushed to assist special forces searching an area riddled with caves and wells north of Hebron, between Highway 35 and Highway 60, reportedly without concrete intelligence leads. Netanyahu reaffirmed that 'the information in Israel's hands unequivocally indicates that Hamas is responsible for the abduction of the youths.'
Day 10
On 22 June, Israeli units shot dead two Palestinians and wounded another 11 in overnight clashes in Ramallah and Nablus, while nine (Israeli statistic) to 38 (Palestinian statistic) were arrested and five charity offices were raided. Israeli forces also raided Abu Dis and Al-Quds University's law faculty, seizing flags and several computers. Ahmad Said Suod Khalid (27), an epileptic, of Ein Beit al-Ma' refugee camp was shot in the abdomen, back, and thigh, for refusing an order to turn back as he insisted on going to a mosque for dawn prayers. Muhammad Ismail Atallah Tarifi (30) was found dead on the roof of a building opposite an Israeli sniper position, an autopsy found he was shot dead by an M16, a rifle in use with the IDF. Mourners at his funeral in al-Bireh later complained that settlers from Psagot had fired at them, injuring one. Palestinians, protesting at the cooperation given Israeli forces by their own police, who dispersed crowds by firing live ammunition in the air, smashed four local police cars in Ramallah, and, once Israelis had withdrawn from the city, raided a police station in Al Manara Square. Abbas, affirming that he was not convinced Hamas was responsible, called on Netanyahu to condemn two earlier killings, and asked if the criminal kidnapping justified 'the killing of Palestinian youth in cold blood?' The Palestinian Prisoners' Society named 420 people so far arrested, claimed Israel consistently understated the numbers and refused to disclose where they are detained.
On Sunday, the Palestinian Authority asked for an urgent convening of the UN Security Council, while mulling an appeal both to the High Contracting Parties of the Fourth Geneva Convention and the UN General Assembly to put an end what it considered to be "collective punishment," "Israeli terrorist aggression against the State of Palestine," and what Hanan Ashrawi termed "a reign of terror directed against a captive Palestinian population."
Day 11
On 23 June, 80 locations, including seven Hamas-linked charities, were raided from the Nablus to Hebron and Jenin areas, with a further 37 Palestinians detained overnight. Four money-changing shops in Hebron and one in Bethlehem were also searched, and their computers confiscated. The number of Palestinians under detention rose to 471. An officer interviewed on Walla! said that Israel, having achieved most of its "band of targets,” would close the operation, and that the military incursion pattern in the West Bank, apart from detention raids, would stop within days. No clue to the teenagers' whereabouts, had turned up, but the operation, in crippling Hamas's infrastructure, had been a success. Netanyahu declared: "We've pretty much figured out who are the kidnappers—the actual perpetrators, the supporters, the command structure—and there's no question, these are members of Hamas."
Day 12
On 24 June 120 buildings were searched and four to 13 Palestinians were rounded up by Israeli forces in the Hebron area, Beit Kahil, Beit Awwa, al-Arrub refugee camp, and the Hebron neighbourhoods of al-Mahawir, al-Bassa, and al-Hawooz, bringing the number of sites examined to 1,800 and the number of detained Palestinians, in the IDF calculation, to 354, or according to Palestinian sources, over 500. As town searches and arrests wound down, investigators shifted their focus to interrogations of detainees and scrutiny of the 150 security cameras in the area in which the kidnapping is believed to have taken place. The IDF said it had no substantial lead on the boys' whereabouts, or fate. A lawyer for the PA said that in the wake of the West Bank round-up, the number of Palestinian minors detained in Israeli jails exceeded 250, and that the hunt for the missing Israeli youths served to cover up this fact.
Day 13
On 25 June, 17 Palestinians were arrested overnight in Yatta, Beit Ummar, Hebron and Bethlehem among them legislative council members Khalid Tafish and Anwar Zaboun, both of Bethlehem, bringing the number of Palestinian legislators arrested in the campaign to 12. Of the 19 people arrested in Beit Ummar since the start of the search, 14 are minors. A Palestinian youth in Khursa, Younis al-Rjoub (18), was shot in the abdomen during a clash with Israeli soldiers.
Day 14
On 26 June, the Israel Security Agency released the names of two Hamas suspects. The ISA stated that both men had engaged in terrorism, been arrested and served time in the past, and were immediately considered suspects. ISA and Palestinian authorities said they had disappeared from their homes on the night of the kidnapping, and ISA believed them to be integral members of the kidnapping group.
Overnight, 136 structures were searched and a further 10 Palestinians were arrested in the Hebron area on suspicion of being terrorists. Fatima Ismail Issa Rushdi (78) died of a heart attack during an Israeli raid on the Arruba refugee camp. Nine youths were injured by tear gas or rubber bullets. Two boys, aged 13 and 14, were arrested in Dura. 44-year-old Ismail Ahmad al-Hawamda was shot in the foot, running away from a checkpoint in the Hebron district town of al-Samu. Despite the Oslo Accords stipulating coordination with the PA security service for Israeli entry into West Bank Areas in the Area A, in what was called an "unprecedented" move, Israeli units raided the Tunis and Rafidia neighbourhoods of Nablus and Balata refugee camp without prior clearance. Two hundred homes in Awarta were also raided.
According to Israeli figures, state detentions numbered 381, of whom 282 are affiliated to Hamas. The number of locations searched rose to 1,955, including 64 Hamas institutions. Palestinian figures state that 566 were detained, six were shot dead, and over 120 wounded; two elderly people died of heart attacks during Israeli operations, and more than 1,200 homes were searched.
Week 3 (27 June – 3 July)
Day 18
On 30 June, a search team located the bound bodies of the three boys on land purchased recently by the Qawasmeh family in an open field near Khirbet Aranava in the Wadi Tellem area, between Halhul and Karmei Tzur, about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) west of the former, just north of Hebron. A high security source revealed that:
The quick solving of the crime by the Shin Bet, which within a 24-hour period identified the kidnappers, together with military pressure in the field, prevented the kidnappers from hiding the bodies and negotiating with Israel for their return.
The ambulance carrying the three bodies was attacked by Palestinians as it left Halhul, the location where the bodies had been found. The Palestinians hurled rocks and paint at the ambulance, smashing its windshield and blinding the windows, but failed to cause the driver to lose control.
Just after midnight, Israeli military detonated explosives in the Hebron homes of the two main suspects, Marwan Qawasmeh and Amer Abu Aisha.
Day 19
The joint funeral of Yifrach, Fraenkel, and Shaer was scheduled for 17:30 on 1 July. Huge crowds delayed it for over an hour.
Israeli jets and helicopters struck 34 locations in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip in response to more than 20 rockets being fired at Israel from Gaza. A 19-year-old Palestinian man, Yousouf Al-Zagha, was shot dead by Israeli troops during a raid in the northern town of Jenin. An IDF spokesperson said the man had thrown a grenade at the troops, while his family maintained he had been carrying eggs home for suhoor, the predawn meal during the fast of Ramadan.
Day 20
A Palestinian teenager was abducted from East Jerusalem and murdered. Israeli police located the body within hours, and arrested Israeli nationalist suspects several days later. The kidnapping and murder of Mohammed Abu Khdeir was soundly denounced by all of the families of the Israeli kidnapping victims as well as by many Israeli governmental and non-governmental public figures.
Week 4 and on (4 July and after)
On 4 July, Israel stated it was searching for a third suspect, Husam Dofsh, absent from his home since the kidnapping. A relative, Jihad Dofsh, had blown himself up in a "work accident" in a Hamas explosives laboratory in Hebron, and one of Qawasmeh's relatives had died in the same incident. Husam Dofsh was arrested in a Hebron coffee-shop the following day, after phoning an Israeli news site to protest his innocence.
For about two weeks in July, Israeli military preparations began for direct fighting inside of Gaza, whilst Hamas rocket fire into Israel took place. The military publicly announced on 17 July that it would go into Gaza, an intervention that caused at least 25 soldiers killed and scores injured on the Israeli side over the 20 to 21 July period. Public opinion in the nation is strongly divided, with, for example, the newspaper Haaretz editorializing that the "soft Gaza sand... could turn into quicksand" and warning about the "wholesale killing" of Palestinian civilians. The campaign in the Gaza is referred to by Israel as Operation Protective Edge.
On 20 August, Hamas official Saleh Al-'Arouri spoke at the conference of the International Union of Muslim Scholars in Istanbul, where he said the group's military wing was responsible for the kidnapping of the three Israeli teens, saying it was an expression of popular will. Khaled Mashal, the Hamas leader, while recognizing that Hamas members were responsible, attempted to distance his organization from the killing two days later. Stating Hamas's opposition to killing civilians, he said the leadership had no advance knowledge of the abduction, which he regarded as a legitimate act by a frustrated people living under occupation, and that it had only learnt of its details from Israeli investigations.
In July, demolition orders were handed out to the Qawasmeh and Abu Eisheh families and to Husam Ali Al Qawasmeh who was not a suspect in the killing but arrested for being a Hamas members. Despite protests from human rights groups, the families homes were demolished in August, displacing 39 Palestinians.
Aftermath
Following the kidnappings and the escalating firing of missiles by Palestinian militants towards civilians in southern Israel, Israel decided to embark on Operation Protective Edge. On 3 July 2014, the Israeli Air Force conducted 15 air strikes in Gaza directed at Hamas targets in response to a rocket attack from Palestinian militants. The previous night, fifteen Palestinians were injured in the IAF strikes and two buildings ruined Operation Protective Edge, became a ground war on 8 July 2014.
On 11 July 2014, a series of bills in the United States Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives was launched, attempting to solve the boys' murder, based upon Yaakov Naftali Fraenkel's dual US-Israeli citizenship. The new legislation would offer a $5 million reward for information on the abduction and murder.
Accusations of collective punishment
On Day 7, The Palestinian Authority declared that the Israeli modus operandi of clamping down on towns with closures and continual arrest of Hamas members constituted collective punishment. Amnesty International issued a statement on 19 June calling both for the release of the Israeli youths, their humane treatment while being held, and for Israel to lift several measures it defined as collective punishment in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and customary international humanitarian law.
According to The Economist, "The Israeli security forces closed off the area around Hebron. Some 23,000 local Palestinians were barred from travelling to their jobs in Israel. A series of charitable organisations that used to be run by Hamas were closed down and a dairy, which employs hundreds of Palestinians, was demolished. Hebronites were prevented from travelling abroad."
In July 2014, the Geneva International Centre for Justice sent an urgent appeal to protest against the imminent house demolition of the homes of the extended families of the suspects and of Husam Ali Al Qawasmeh. The demolitions which the Centre designated as collective punishment would affect 39 people.
Two scholars rejected the claim that the actions constituted collective punishment:
- Robbie Sabel, a professor of international law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a former legal adviser to Israel's Foreign Ministry, argued that Israel's actions shouldn't be considered collective punishment because they were aimed exclusively at finding the kidnapped teenagers and weakening the terrorist organizations behind their abduction and that in a search for kidnapped civilians, the arrests of members affiliated with the organization responsible for the kidnapping is legitimate.
- Eugene Kontorovich, international law professor at Northwestern University and Hebrew University said: "rounding up suspects, or potential witnesses, is not punishment, but rather rudimentary investigative process; especially when the crime is thought to be committed by a complex terror organization, the number of potential witnesses is high." Kontorovich cited as an example that police often arrest members of a gang after a crime to further investigate the perpetrators or criminal acts.
Speculations on kidnapping motives
Elhanan Miller, writing for The Times of Israel speculated that the motive for the kidnapping could have been to force Israel to release a large number of prisoners in exchange for the three teens. In 2011, Hamas had secured the release of over one thousand prisoners in exchange for Gilad Shalit, whom they had captured five years prior.
Some 300 prisoners went on a hunger strike against the Israeli practice of holding Palestinians in Administrative detention without charges for six months or more, which Israel says is done in cases where the detainee poses an imminent security risk and publicizing the charges could endanger national security. Many Palestinians support the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers and civilians in order to obtain the release of these prisoners. In 2011, Israel released more than a thousand Palestinians in detention, many convicted by Israeli courts for lethal attacks, in exchange for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier kidnapped by Palestinian militants.
Some months before the 2014 incident, an 18-page manual on abduction techniques was published by Hamas. Entitled "Guide for the Kidnapper,” it provided an operational guide that outlined the use of pistols with silencers, the use of backup cars, the choice of conducting the abductions on rainy days, a command of Hebrew, the renting of hideouts in areas to avoid arousing suspicions and suggestions to refrain from announcing the outcome of the kidnapping until the victims were secured in a safe house.
The difficulty confronting the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, which has an ongoing debate on the issue, is the coordination between the PNA and Israeli security services, which makes executing such operations difficult. Several prior incidents, such as the killings of Givati soldier Gal "Gavriel" Kobi and Baruch Mizrahi, a police intelligence officer, displayed exceptional, high-level skills, strict compartmentalization, and careful preparations for an escape route, features shared by the kidnapping. These elements resemble the carefully planned abductions of IDF soldiers by Hezbollah on Israel's northern border.
Israel said that the IDF and the Shin Bet have foiled between 54 and 64 kidnapping plots since 2013. The PA said it had foiled 43 of them. The high success rate (95%) in blocking such plots is due to the very close cooperation between the security forces of both sides. Hamas has put considerable effort into kidnapping attempts through its large network.
A week into the search for the missing youth, Avi Issacharoff cast doubts on the premise for West Bank operations, which in his view 'targeted the weak'—since Hamas has neither a large or strong presence there—and argued that the operational order, if there was one, came from either Gaza, or abroad, perhaps Ankara-based deportee Saleh al-Arouri, or Khaled Mashal, who appeared to hint a month earlier in replying to a letter from an imprisoned Hamas leader, after Netanyahu reneged on releasing a fourth group of Palestinian prisoners, that the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades would be his reply. Issacharoff concluded however that, "There isn't a smoking gun to prove the Hamas leadership is complicit in the kidnapping."
On 20 August, a Hamas official identified the West Bank Qawasmeh clan, a Hamas ally, for the kidnapping of the three Israeli teens and shared their motives. Saleh Al-'Arouri of the Hamas leadership delivered an address on behalf of Khaled Mashal at the conference of the International Union of Muslim Scholars in Istanbul. In it he said: "Our goal was to ignite an intifada in the West Bank and Jerusalem, as well as within the 1948 borders... Your brothers in the Al-Qassam Brigades carried out this operation to support their imprisoned brothers, who were on a hunger strike... The mujahideen captured these settlers in order to have a swap deal."
Hitchhiking debate in Israel
As events unfolded, the dangerous nature of hitchhiking in what Israelis refer to as "the territories" prompted a debate, regarded by some in the settler and religious Zionist communities as a kind of victim blaming, about the practice of hitching rides on roads in the Palestinian territories, widely regarded as a cavalier and irresponsible habit for the costs involved in redeeming anyone who is captured. The normal Israeli practice is one where drivers pull up, declaring their destination, and, by their accent, allowing potential hikers at trempiada (hitchhiking stations) an opportunity to examine the clues before they accept or decline a lift. Such hitchhiking has long been a hallowed method of travel among Israelis, but as abductions and killings of hitchhikers, mainly IDF soldiers, began to take root in the 1980s, one incident in October 1994 led to the passage of regulations that forbade military personnel from resorting to this method of travel. To hammer the message home, recruits doing basic training are required now to view snuff films that highlight the dangers, and military police "abduct" and punish recruits who do not take it seriously.
Israeli governments have not regulated civilian recourse to hitchhiking, and laws delegate responsibility to parents, expecting them to advise their children. The practice however remains widespread among the dati leumi community of religious Zionists for several reasons: many of them, as in this case, have children boarding in West Bank settlements, where public transport facilities are poor. Haaretz reported that for mitzvah-observant adolescents, it is "a rite of passage, a way of life, a declaration of independence and of ownership of the land." Retired Brigadier General, Nitzan Nuriel, a former counter-terrorism officer in the Prime Minister's Office, declared on Israeli television that hitchhiking had an ideological edge: it made a statement about who owns the territory.
Reactions
Israel
One anonymous Israeli government official stated to Reuters news agency that Israel was looking to use the search as an opportunity for a wider crackdown on Hamas, and were looking into the legal aspects of deporting Hamas leaders from the West Bank. A Hebrew-language Facebook page calling on PM Netanyahu to assume his responsibilities and requesting that a Palestinian "terrorist" be executed every hour until the three youths are restored to their families, gained 10,000 thumb-ups within hours.
With a perception in Israel, expressed by Thane Rosenbaum, that the sympathy long lavished on Israel was dwindling, the government stepped up hasbara efforts abroad, especially in Brazil where the 2014 FIFA World Cup was then the focus of much of the world's attention. An aircraft trailed a #BringBackOurBoys banner along a Rio de Janeiro beach. The families of the missing boys went to Geneva to address the UN's Human Rights Council.
- On television, Netanyahu declared that "Anyone trying to harm Israeli civilians will be harmed in return."
- Israel's Economic Minister Naftali Bennett said Israel will make membership of Hamas a 'ticket to hell', branding it one 'of the most "lethal, barbaric organizations in the world." Both the PA and Hamas, he affirmed, formed a 'complete culture where Israel is Satan.'
- 15 June. Moshe Ya'alon cited the kidnapping as "additional testimony to the cruelty and seething hatred that guides the terror groups in our region."
- 'Israel has decided to perform a root canal to uproot everything green in the West Bank,' reported on Israel's Army Radio, green being the colour of Hamas.
- Israel's ambassador to Italy, Naor Gilon, declared that "Europe backs Hamas' government and the kidnapping of children and Israeli civilians."
- 'We're witnessing the unrestrained brutality of Islamic terrorism, both in Israel and around us.' Netanyahu to Ban Ki-moon.
- 'Not only are the kidnappers terrorists, but so is Hanin Zoabi'. Avigdor Liberman, writing in Facebook of his Knesset colleague.
- Rabbi Dov Lior said the abduction was God's punishment for anti-religious legislation in the Knesset and Israel's readiness to abandon parts of the Land of Israel. Yuval Diskin countered: If so, why did God arrange for religious boys to be kidnapped if he was angry with secular Israelis?
- The Haredi Yated Ne'eman claimed that government policies aimed at drafting yeshiva students into the army against their will was the cause of the abductions.
- 15 June. Jews and Muslims who work fields as part of the Shorashim/Judhur cooperative project near where the kidnapping took place met and discussed their distress for several hours.
- 17 June. Jews many from the Gush Etzion and Muslims held a joint prayer session at the kidnapping site. Rabbi Michael Melchior said Islamic clerics were concerned and demanded the youths' immediate release, and Israel's distress was shared by Palestinians. Jerusalem Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Hawa recited the Al-Fatiha chapter of the Quran, adding that 'there is a wall between our two nations, and we hope to remove the wall separating the hearts of humans.'
- In an interview with Globes Yishai Fraenkel, uncle of the missing Naftali Fraenkel, recounted that he had received "no few messages of support and encouragement from Palestinian sources" who had said they were repulsed by the kidnapping and were "praying for the boys' welfare."
- Human rights organization B'Tselem condemned the kidnapping of the three students and called for their immediate release, saying "any deliberate attack against civilians is absolutely prohibited." They also cautioned Israeli authorities to uphold human rights and avoid collective punishment of the local population in their efforts to bring the students home safely. Later B'Tselem condemned the killing of the three students by saying "deliberate targeting of civilians undermines all moral, legal and human principles. The deliberate killing of civilians is defined as a grave breach of international humanitarian law, and cannot be justified, regardless of the circumstances."
- Knesset Member Hanin Zoabi, a Palestinian, stated that the kidnappers were not terrorists, but frustrated people resorting to such measures 'until the citizens of Israel and the public sober up and relate to the suffering of others,' mentioning the mothers of Palestinians who are being detained without trial.
- 'Three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped, but the two Palestinian kids who were killed were not even mentioned ? The blood of Jews is more precious than the blood of Palestinians?' Hanin Zoabi.
- On 1 July 2014, settlers started two new outposts, one on a hilltop in the E1 area near Ma'ale Adumim and the other near Halhul.
- In late August, the IDF, acting on political instruction, announced it was confiscating 988 acres (1.54 square miles) of privately owned Palestinian land south of Bethlehem, as a response to the killing of the teens. Naftali Bennett described the move as an "appropriate Zionist response to murder,” adding: "What we did yesterday was a display of Zionism. Building is our answer to murder." The U.S. rebuked the move as 'counter-productive', while France condemned it and Britain deplored the decision stating that it 'would seriously damage Israel's international reputation.' Defining the area as state land rather than private Palestinian land was hailed by the Gush Etzion settlements council as an opportunity to build up Gva'ot, an illegal Israeli settlement of 16 families. Robert Fisk stated that it was the first time Palestinian land had been seized, not on God's warrant, or security grounds, or because of deed of title, but for revenge, a measure which set a dangerous precedent.
Social media in Israel
A social media campaign was started soon after the kidnapping advocating for the safe return of the teens under the hashtag #BringBackOurBoys. According to Robert Mackey, the campaign was initiated by a "group of Israelis trained to promote their country online" The campaign's label attempted to make the link between the then-recent #BringBackOurGirls campaign following the Chibok schoolgirl kidnapping in Nigeria. One of the organizers stated the social media effort "is simply a cry out to the world to bring those boys back,” adding that "We're only trying to do whatever we can to help the international community to put pressure to release those kids." On 15 June, around 25,000 people gathered for a prayer at the Western Wall for the release of the kidnapped teenagers.
Violent Israeli reactions
On the night of 1 July a Palestinian family registered a complaint at police concerning an attempt to kidnap their child, 10-year-old Moussa Zalum, on Shu'fat's main street in Jerusalem. At the time, they reported, he was walking with his mother and brother when a car stopped and people tried to pull him into the vehicle. The child managed to wriggle free, and the car sped off.
After the bodies of the three boys were found, settlers attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank were reported. Settlers from Tel Rumeida in Hebron were in the streets, attacking Palestinians and internationals. The Border Police stormed the hill towards the gathered crowd of Palestinians and internationals, exploded a sound grenade and injured a Palestinian in the following clash.
Main article: Kidnapping and murder of Mohammed Abu KhdeirOn 2 July a 16-year-old Palestinian from Shu'fat camp, Mohammed Abu Khdeir, was killed; preliminary results from the autopsy suggest he was burnt alive. The boy's family believes the killing to be an act of revenge from Jewish settlers for the murder of the three Israeli teenagers. Netanyahu urged a swift inquiry into the "reprehensible murder" and called on people to respect the rule of law.
On the evening of 3 July, Palestinians of Shu'fat reported to the Israeli police that four settlers from Pisgat Zeev had attempted to kidnap a 7-year-old local child, and had fled on being thwarted. On Friday Palestinians of Osarin near Nablus in the West Bank complained that one of them, 22-year-old Tariq Ziad Zuhdi Adeli, had been sprayed with a gas by settlers, abducted in a car, taken outside the village and then sustained injuries from a hatchet attack to his legs.
Three days later, a video was aired, that appeared as the beating up of 15-year-old American citizen Tariq Abu Khdeir by Israeli security forces. Tariq, a second-cousin of murdered Mohammed Abu Khdeir, is a student who attends Universal Academy of Florida high school in Tampa, Florida. Israeli authorities then detained Tariq. The US State Department called for "a speedy, transparent and credible investigation and full accountability for any excessive use of force." Israeli Border Police started an official investigation on 5 July.
Palestine
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, defying widespread popular Palestinian support for the kidnapping as a means of securing the release of Palestinians held in Israeli jails, criticized the action, saying the youths must be returned, and that Palestinian Authority security was cooperating with Israel to try to locate them. Abbas' office released a statement condemning the kidnapping and the Israeli response of raids and arrests. At US urging, Abbas was working closely with Israel to coordinate the search for the teens. A PA spokesman stated that holding Palestinian authorities responsible for kidnappings in Area C of the West Bank, where Israel exercises full military control and prohibits a Palestinian police presence places the PA in an impossible position.
The Palestinian Authority's official newspaper marked the kidnapping with a cartoon that spoofed the World Cup logo. Three hands hold the globe in the FIFA World Cup logo, but in Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, three hands held small helpless figures with their hands up in surrender. While the World Cup logo says "Brazil" under it, the spoof says Khalil, the Arabic name for Hebron, a city near the site of the kidnapping.
A cartoon on a Fatah Facebook page presented the three kidnapped Israeli teenagers as rats caught on three hooks on a fishing rod. Each rat was emblazoned with a Star of David, and the title of the cartoon read "Masterstroke." A picture on the same Facebook page showed a hand with words written on three of the fingers. Read in succession they said: "Three Shalits, long live Palestine."
Hamas spokesmen Sami Abu Zuhri and Fawzi Barhoum criticized the PNA collaboration with Israel to track down the culprits, and Barhoum called the kidnappers "heroes."
In social media, many Palestinians criticized what they see as the strong emphasis placed by Israel on the teenagers' disappearance to the detriment of Palestinian suffering, citing the case of two Palestinian boys shot dead by Israelis at a protest in Beitunia during a Nakba Day protest on 15 May 2014.
On Twitter, in response to the IDF campaign, Palestinian sympathizers appropriated the hashtag as their own, drawing attention to both Palestinian prisoners in Israeli goals and Palestinian children killed by Israeli actions. One mentioned 5,271 Palestinian political prisoners, 192 administrative detainees, 17 women and 196 children. Senior Hamas and Islamic Jihad officials have stated that kidnapping Israeli soldiers and settlers is the only route to obtain the release of Palestinian prisoners. Palestinian Fatah and Hamas activists called on Palestinian shopkeepers and businessmen in Hebron, via Facebook, Twitter and other social media, to destroy any CCTV footage that could be used by Israel to help locate the teens. Fatah activists in Hebron also confiscated security cameras in order to frustrate the search.
In the Gaza Strip, families of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel celebrated the kidnapping by handing out sweets to passersby from a protest tent that had been erected to express solidarity. Gazan Palestinians also released a song on social networks mocking the kidnappings, and called for additional abductions. A Palestinian group mounted a video on YouTube parodying the abduction, in a fictional scenario featuring an "Abu Saqer el Khalili Brigades, the Kick Ass Branch,” apparently taking the event to be an Israeli plot with Arab complicity while mocking Islamic extremism.
- Hamas parliamentarian Salah Bardawil: "We are capable of igniting a third Intifada which is an irrevocable right that will go off when more pressure is exerted on the Palestinian people."
- "I don't plan to punish anyone based on suspicions or because Netanyahu claims something. If Netanyahu has information, he should update me and we'll take care of it according to our laws." Mahmoud Abbas.
- "The world cannot stand by while Israel, the occupying power, commits such grave breaches of international law." Hanan Ashrawi.
International
- United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon released a statement condemning the abduction, expressing "deep concern on the trend toward violence on the ground and attendant loss of life, including today of a child in Gaza as a result of a recent Israeli airstrike." He expressed solidarity with the families of the abducted, called for their immediate release and called for restraint on both sides. After the dead bodies were found, Ban Ki-moon condemned the murders of the three Israeli teenagers, calling them a "heinous act by enemies of peace that aim to entrench division and distrust and widen the Middle East conflict."
- In response to proposals in the Security Council to make a statement to the press condemning the kidnapping, and the collective punishment and deaths of Palestinians, no agreement could be found: the US representative Samantha Power said that any direct criticism of Israel in the statement would constitute a 'red line' for Americans.
- United States said that it was "very concerned" about the well-being of the teens, and that it was working with Israel and the Palestinian Authority to resolve the situation. After the dead bodies of the three teenagers were found, the US Secretary of State John Kerry made a statement saying "the news of the murder of these three Israeli teenagers—Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach—is simply devastating. We all had so much hope that this story would not end this way." President of the United States Barack Obama responded to the deaths by sending his condolences to the families of the teenagers and condemning the "senseless act of terror against innocent youth."
- Canada's Foreign Minister John Baird expressed deep concern over the event and urged Palestinian security authorities, "who have been trained through Canadian and US leadership,” to make every effort to ensure the safe return of the children to their families.
- United Kingdom After the dead bodies of the three teenagers were found, Prime Minister David Cameron described their deaths as an "appalling and inexcusable act of terror."
- France President François Hollande released a statement saying he was "shocked,” "strongly condemn the cowardly murder,” and "extend his sincere condolences to their families and to the Israeli people and authorities." He attended that he "express his concern in the face of the increased violence in the West Bank and Gaza,” "condemn the rocket fire from Gaza into Israeli territory,” and "call for everything to be done to prevent any further casualties and the risk of an escalation of violence."
- Spain condemned the kidnapping, along with Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, and called for restraint.
- Netherlands After the dead bodies of the three teenagers were found, Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans issued a statement saying that the Dutch government heard the news of the murder "with profound sadness and horror. These boys were in the prime of their lives and have been the victim of a horrific crime. The government of the Netherlands hopes that their killers will be apprehended soon and brought to justice."
- European Union's ambassador to Israel tweeted that he was "deeply concerned" about the events and was hoping for the safe return of the teens. Catherine Ashton's office condemned the kidnapping after five days, in the wake of Israeli official expressions of disappointment. On 28 June the EU reiterated its call for the safe return of the youths. It regretted the increasing violence, particularly the killing of several Palestinians, and called on Israel to only use proportionate means in its search. It praised the Palestinian security services for their help in searching for the abductees, and condemned Hamas for praising the kidnapping. After the dead bodies of the three teenagers were found, the EU's ambassador to Israel, Lars Faaborg-Andersen, tweeted that he sent condolences to the Israeli government on the "despicable" murders, "with hope that perpetrators are soon arrested."
- Egypt's foreign ministry released a statement asking Israel to stop what it called "its collective punishment of the Palestinian people,” after it bombed dozens of sites in the Gaza Strip a day after the bodies of three missing Israeli teenagers were found. Egypt urged the Israeli forces to practice restraint and allow the Palestinian authorities to take on its responsibility in tracking the culprits, it also renewed its condemnation for all forms of violence that cause the death of civilians on both sides.
- Colombia's Foreign Ministry released a statement condemning the assassination of the 3 teenagers that had previously been kidnapped on 12 June while on the same statement declaring the murder as an act of terrorism. Colombia expressed its condolences to the families of the victims and called to "reflect, and ponder on this difficult moments, in accordance to international rights."
- Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan wrote to Netanyahu: .".. I assure you that we are in solidarity with you, as we believe that any act of terrorism against any nation or group is an act against our common humanity. We unequivocally condemn this dastardly act, and demand that the children are released unconditionally by their abductors."
- Holy See The Vatican condemned the killing of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank as a "hideous and unacceptable crime" and an obstacle to peace, calling the news of the deaths "terrible and dramatic."
- Quartet envoy Tony Blair posted a tweet saying that the abduction and killing of "these three young people was a heinous and wicked thing to do."
- Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said that Germany, France, Britain, Belgium, Bulgaria and Norway all condemned the kidnapping of three Israelis in phone conversations with him.
See also
- 2014 in Israel
- 2014 in the Palestinian territories
- Death and ransoming of Oron Shaul
- Killing of Avi Sasportas and Ilan Saadon (Hamas, 1989)
- Kidnapping and murder of Nissim Toledano (Hamas, 1992)
- Kidnapping and murder of Yaron Chen (Hamas, 1993)
- Kidnapping and murder of Nachshon Wachsman (Hamas, 1994)
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External links
Media related to Operation Brother’s Keeper at Wikimedia Commons
Categories:- 2010s missing person cases
- 2014 in Israel
- 2014 Gaza War
- 2014 murders in Asia
- Child murder in the State of Palestine
- Deaths by firearm in the West Bank
- Formerly missing people
- Hamas attacks
- Israeli people taken hostage
- June 2014 crimes in Asia
- Kidnapping in the State of Palestine
- Kidnapping in the 2010s
- Missing person cases in Israel
- Terrorism deaths in the West Bank
- Terrorist incidents in the West Bank in 2014
- 2010s murders in the State of Palestine
- Children killed in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict