Israeli teens’ bodies found in West Bank

JERUSALEM – The Israeli military found the bodies of three missing teenagers on Monday just over two weeks after they were abducted in the West Bank – a grim discovery that ended a frantic search that led to Israel’s largest ground operation in the Palestinian territory in nearly a decade and drew Israeli threats of retaliation.

“Hamas is responsible and Hamas will pay,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed, referring to the Islamic militant group that Israel has accused of carrying out the kidnappings.

The teenagers “were kidnapped and murdered in cold blood by human animals,” the Israeli leader said as he convened an emergency meeting of his Security Cabinet.

The three-hour session ended after midnight without any decisions, and officials were expected to resume deliberations today.

The episode has put Netanyahu in a difficult position. With a public enraged over the deaths, the Israeli leader has widespread support to strike Hamas. But after a two-week crackdown against the group, he could have a tough time finding new targets. He is also facing international calls for restraint.

Eyal Yifrah, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Fraenkel, a 16-year-old with dual Israeli-American citizenship, disappeared June 12 while hitchhiking home from the Jewish seminaries where they were studying near the West Bank city of Hebron. Despite the dangers, hitchhiking is common among Israelis traveling in and out of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

In an operation codenamed “Brother’s Keeper,” Israel dispatched thousands of troops across the West Bank in search of the youths, closed roads in the Hebron area and arrested some 400 Hamas operatives throughout the territory. The search ended Monday afternoon with the discovery of the bodies under a pile of rocks in a field north of Hebron.

Israel has identified two well-known Hamas operatives from Hebron as the primary suspects. The men, Marwan Qawasmeh and Amer Abu Aisheh, remain on the run, and military officials said the search for them would continue.

The search for the teens became a national obsession. Israeli media delivered round-the-clock updates, top officials held daily televised briefings and Israelis held prayer vigils. The mothers of the three teens became public figures as they campaigned for their sons’ return, at one point traveling to Geneva to address the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.

News of their deaths prompted an outpouring of grief late Monday. Large crowds of supporters rushed to the homes of the families in the central Israeli towns of Nof Ayalon and Elad, and the West Bank settlement of Talmon, while supporters lit memorial candles and prayed.

“All of Israel bows its head today,” said President Shimon Peres.