02/07/2014 09:28
Israel vows to find killers of teenagers
Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to find those behind the kidnap and murder of three teenagers hitchhiking in the occupied West Bank, the BBC reported.
He also promised strong action against Palestinian militant group Hamas, which he blamed for the killings. Hamas denies any involvement.
Thousands turned up to the funeral of the three youths on Tuesday in Modein.
The teenagers' bodies were found on Monday evening, more than two weeks after the trio went missing.
Israel's security cabinet met twice after the bodies of Naftali Frenkel, Gilad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach were found under a pile of rocks near the Palestinian town of Halhul.
An Israeli official said it appeared the youths had been shot soon after their abduction.
Israeli troops entered Halhul after the youths' bodies were discovered, blockading some areas.
Soldiers raided the homes of two Hamas members named as suspects - Marwan Qawasmeh, and Amer Abu Aisha - and detonated explosives.
Hanan Ashrawi, a senior Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official, told the BBC that Israel's response was heavy handed.
"You cannot sort of use every development like this in order to punish a whole nation, which is what Israel has been doing," she said.
"In the month of June alone, 14 Palestinians were killed... by the Israeli occupation."