Tuesday, 1 July 2014

Israel holds murdered teenagers' funerals - BBC News

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Yolande Knell








The teenagers were last seen at a busy hitch-hiking spot, from where the BBC's Yolande Knell reports






Israel is holding the funerals of three teenagers who were abducted and murdered while hitch-hiking in the occupied West Bank.


Israel has blamed the Palestinian militant group Hamas for the deaths. Hamas has denied any involvement.


The youths' bodies were found on Monday evening, more than two weeks after the trio went missing.


Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Hamas will be made to pay a price for the killings.


Overnight, Israel launched more than 30 air strikes on facilities linked to militant groups in the Gaza Strip after 18 rockets had been fired into Israel since Sunday night, the Israeli military reported.


Mr Netanyahu, who was due to attend the joint funeral for Naftali Frenkel, Gilad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach, said the teenagers had been "kidnapped and murdered in cold blood by human animals".


Naftali Frenkel (16), Gilad Shaar (16) and Eyal Yifrach (19), found dead near Hebron on 30 JuneThe abductions of Naftali Frenkel, Gilad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach sparked a massive search operation

The funeral was due to take place from 17:30 local time (14:30 GMT) at Modein cemetery in central Israel. Modein, which is between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, is close to the boys' family homes.


The teenagers' bodies 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 flooded into Halhul after the discovery.


Israel's Shin Bet security agency had named named two Hamas members from Hebron - Ayoub al-Kawasma and Abu Aisheh - as suspects. The Israeli military raided the homes of both men, setting off explosives.


Palestinian witnesses said Abu Aisheh's home was destroyed.


Mourners and relatives of Israeli teenager Eyal Ifrach gather to attend his funeral outside his house in the city of Elad, central IsraelThousands of mourners have been gathering to attend the funerals of the three teenagers

Rachel (front L) and Avi (2nd R) Frenkel, parents of US-Israeli national Naftali, 16, one of three Israeli teens who were abducted and killed in the occupied West Bank, mourn near the Israeli flag-covered body of their son during a memorial service before his funeral, in the central Israeli village of Nof Ayalon Naftali Frenkel's parents attend their son's memorial service before his funeral in the village of Nof Ayalon

Israelis pray on the road where three missing teenagers were abducted near the West Bank Jewish settlement of Alon ShvutIsraelis pray on the road where the teenagers were abducted near the Jewish settlement of Alon Shvut

Relatives and neighbours of one of the main suspects Abu Aisheh are seen in a house destroyed by the Israeli army in response to the killing of the Israeli teenagers in Hebron People inspect the house of one of the Palestinian suspects destroyed by the Israeli army

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Analysis, by Kevin Connolly, BBC News, Jerusalem


Israel's overnight air raids on Hamas targets in Gaza were an immediate response to a wave of missile attacks launched from the Palestinian enclave since Sunday.


They should not be seen as a definitive response to the abduction and murder of the three teenage boys whose fate has transfixed this country over the course of the last two-and-a-half weeks.


In keeping with Jewish religious custom, the funerals will take place on Tuesday - and only when they have passed and the outpouring of national grief they will prompt has died down will Israel's governments finalise its military and political plans.


Having firmly focused the blame for the murders on Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will have to demonstrate to the Israeli public that his response will be calibrated to match the huge sense of anger and outrage that is felt here.


In the past, Israel has used targeted missile attacks to kill senior members of militant groups and it has the military capacity to target Hamas's stockpiles of missiles and rockets in a sustained campaign.


And it will have a clear political goal too. Israel was angered by the creation of a Palestinian unity government which brought together Hamas with the Palestinian Authority, whose forces helped to look for the victims.


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Israeli security forces have set up blockades and closed down whole areas around Halhul, a few kilometres from where the teenagers were last seen.


Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called an emergency meeting of the Palestinian leadership and has expressed "regret" over the deaths.


Map

The disappearance of the teenagers on 12 June sparked a huge search operation in Palestinian towns and cities across the West Bank.


More than 400 Palestinians were arrested, while five were killed in fighting with Israeli troops.


Mr Netanyahu has said the incident is a consequence of "the partnership" between Hamas, which rejects Israel's right to exist, and the Fatah movement of Mr Abbas.


The two signed a reconciliation deal in April after years of division and formed a unity government last month.


Are you in any of the affected areas? Email details of your experiences to haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk using the subject "Israel-Gaza".


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