Bodies of three missing Israeli teenagers found in West Bank

Naftali Frankel, Gil-ad Sha'er and Eyal Yifrach were kidnapped while hitchhiking back from their religious schools

theguardian.com, Peter Beaumont in Jerusalem,  Monday 30 June 2014

An Israeli woman holds a sign showing images of the Israeli teenagers
at a rally in Tel Aviv on Sunday. Photograph: Baz Ratner/Reuters

The bodies of three missing Israeli teenagers, including one with US citizenship, have been found close to the southern West Bank city of Hebron.

A senior spokesman for the Israel Defence Force, Lt Col Peter Lerner, told the Guardian that soldiers and civilian volunteers came across "two bodies buried under a pile of rocks" at about five pm on Monday afternoon in a field between Halhoul and a neighbouring village.

"Digging deeper they came cross a third body." The source added that the identities of the bodies had not be confirmed nor was there any information on the state of the bodies at present to suggest when they had been killed.

He added: "The families have been informed about the discovery and we will release more details when it is available."

The three, Eyal Yifrach, 19, and Gil-ad Sha'er and Naftali Frankel who were both 16, went missing while hitchhiking back from their religious schools in settlements on the West Bank, prompting claims from the Israeli government that they had been kidnapped by the militants from the Islamist organisation Hamas.

Israel has named two Hamas members from the Hebron area as suspects, but despite the arrest of some 400 Palestinians, the two men remained on the run on Monday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was meeting with his Security Cabinet late on Monday to discuss Israel's response to the discovery of the bodies amid a period of increased rocket fire from Gaza and retaliatory airstrikes by Israel.

The case prompted a massive manhunt by soldiers, police, civilians and members of Israel's domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet.

Binyamin Proper, who was among the civilian volunteers that found the bodies, told Channel 2 TV that a member of the search party "saw something suspicious on the ground, plants that looked out of place, moved them and moved some rocks and then found the bodies. We realised it was them and we called the army."

The hunt for the three missing youths has galvanised Israeli society, prompting round the clock coverage and large rallies – the most recent in Tel Aviv on Sunday – calling for their release.

As the search went on, concerns mounted for the teenagers safety amid pointed and grim reminders in the Israeli media that West Bank kidnapping victims historically had often been killed shortly after their abduction.

Early reports on social media and elsewhere suggested the bodies had been found in a rocky gully close to Halhul a town at the entrance to Hebron, a city of 750,000, although that could not immediately be confirmed.

However reports suggested that the access to the area had been sealed by military roadblocks.

The abduction of the three youths has become a heated political issue both on the domestic and international political front, with Palestinian leaders accusing the Israeli government of using it as an excuse to smash the new Palestinian unity government backed by Hamas.

However, even within Palestinian circles cross to President Mahmoud Abbas, concerns had been growing over the potential fallout that would follow the revelation the teenagers had been kidnapped or killed by militants associated with, or member of, Hamas with one official telling the Guardian the unity government would be dead in the water.

In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, "We obviously condemn in the strongest possible terms violence that takes the lives of innocent civilians."

n a statement issue by his office British prime minister David Cameron said: "I am deeply saddened by the news that the bodies of the three Israeli boys kidnapped on 12 June have been found this evening. This was an appalling and inexcusable act of terror perpetrated against young teenagers. Britain will stand with Israel as it seeks to bring to justice those responsible."

#Palestine and #Israel are killing each others children and have dreams for peace ? Injustice and peace cannot coexist @CBC @CTVToronto
— asma Mahmood (@asmaAmahmood3) July 2, 2014

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