This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/01/world/middleeast/Israel-missing-teenagers.html
The article has changed 14 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 9 | Version 10 |
|---|---|
| Israel’s Search For 3 Teenagers Ends in Grief | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| JERUSALEM — Israel’s intense 18-day search for three abducted teenagers ended Monday when three bodies were found buried under a pile of rocks in an open field about 15 miles from where the youths were last seen in the occupied West Bank. | |
| A nation that had been enmeshed in hopeful prayer was instantly engulfed by a mix of grief and anger and vowed retaliation against the militant Palestinian group Hamas, which Israel says was behind the kidnapping. | |
| “They were kidnapped and murdered in cold blood by beasts,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said at the start of an emergency cabinet meeting Monday night. “Hamas is responsible, and Hamas will pay.” | “They were kidnapped and murdered in cold blood by beasts,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said at the start of an emergency cabinet meeting Monday night. “Hamas is responsible, and Hamas will pay.” |
| Just after midnight, witnesses in Hebron, the West Bank’s largest city, said the retaliation had begun as Israeli forces used explosives to demolish the homes of Marwan Qawasmeh and Amer Abu Aisha, the Hamas men who have been missing since the teenagers vanished and who are Israel’s prime suspects. | |
| Mr. Qawasmeh’s mother, Amneh Hijazi Qawasmeh, 48, said the suspect’s pregnant wife and 2-month-old nephew were lightly wounded in the blast. | |
| The June 12 abduction and its aftermath, after April’s collapse of American-brokered peace talks, have sent the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to its lowest point in nearly a decade and shaken the fragile reconciliation between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Hamas. | The June 12 abduction and its aftermath, after April’s collapse of American-brokered peace talks, have sent the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to its lowest point in nearly a decade and shaken the fragile reconciliation between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Hamas. |
| Israel’s crackdown in the West Bank prompted outcries of collective punishment as thousands of homes were searched, 400 Palestinians — including many of Hamas’s top leaders — were arrested, and five were killed while hurling stones at soldiers or otherwise confronting them. A parallel escalation ensued in the Gaza Strip, where militants fired rockets daily into Israel’s south, and Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes killed three suspected militants. | Israel’s crackdown in the West Bank prompted outcries of collective punishment as thousands of homes were searched, 400 Palestinians — including many of Hamas’s top leaders — were arrested, and five were killed while hurling stones at soldiers or otherwise confronting them. A parallel escalation ensued in the Gaza Strip, where militants fired rockets daily into Israel’s south, and Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes killed three suspected militants. |
| The crisis has weakened President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, who condemned the kidnapping and deployed his security forces to cooperate with Israel’s hunt. Hamas leaders ridiculed Mr. Abbas as a traitor, and a Palestinian mob smashed four of the authority’s police cars and stormed its police station in Ramallah’s central square. Israel, meanwhile, said Mr. Abbas’s words were meaningless unless he severed the pact with Hamas. | The crisis has weakened President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, who condemned the kidnapping and deployed his security forces to cooperate with Israel’s hunt. Hamas leaders ridiculed Mr. Abbas as a traitor, and a Palestinian mob smashed four of the authority’s police cars and stormed its police station in Ramallah’s central square. Israel, meanwhile, said Mr. Abbas’s words were meaningless unless he severed the pact with Hamas. |
| Mr. Abbas called an emergency meeting of the Palestinian leadership for Tuesday to assess “the consequences of the latest events,” according to Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency. Early Tuesday, Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, issued a statement emphasizing that “no Palestinian group, Hamas or any other group,” had taken responsibility. | Mr. Abbas called an emergency meeting of the Palestinian leadership for Tuesday to assess “the consequences of the latest events,” according to Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency. Early Tuesday, Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, issued a statement emphasizing that “no Palestinian group, Hamas or any other group,” had taken responsibility. |
| “We reject all Israeli allegations and threats against us,” he said. “We are already used to it and will know how to defend ourselves.” | “We reject all Israeli allegations and threats against us,” he said. “We are already used to it and will know how to defend ourselves.” |
| Even before Israel’s late-night cabinet meeting, several of its right-wing ministers demanded a severe response. “This is the time for actions and not for talk,” Naftali Bennett, leader of the Jewish Home Party, wrote on Facebook. Yisrael Katz, the transportation minister and a member of Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud faction, urged the prime minister to “act with all our strength against Hamas in Gaza and the West Bank and teach Hamas a lesson.” | Even before Israel’s late-night cabinet meeting, several of its right-wing ministers demanded a severe response. “This is the time for actions and not for talk,” Naftali Bennett, leader of the Jewish Home Party, wrote on Facebook. Yisrael Katz, the transportation minister and a member of Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud faction, urged the prime minister to “act with all our strength against Hamas in Gaza and the West Bank and teach Hamas a lesson.” |
| President Obama issued a statement saying that “as a father, I cannot imagine the indescribable pain that the parents of these teenage boys are experiencing,” but also urging “all parties to refrain from steps that could further destabilize the situation.” | President Obama issued a statement saying that “as a father, I cannot imagine the indescribable pain that the parents of these teenage boys are experiencing,” but also urging “all parties to refrain from steps that could further destabilize the situation.” |
| Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces, said the bodies were uncovered by a team that included civilian volunteers at 5 p.m. Monday between Halhul and Beit Kahil, Palestinian towns near Hebron, an area hundreds of soldiers were scouring for more than a week. Micky Rosenfeld, a spokesman for the Israel Police, said the three teenagers — Naftali Fraenkel, 16, an American-Israeli citizen; his friend Gilad Shaar, also 16; and Eyal Yifrach, 19 — appeared to have been fatally shot shortly after they got into a car near the Kfar Etzion settlement south of Jerusalem. | Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces, said the bodies were uncovered by a team that included civilian volunteers at 5 p.m. Monday between Halhul and Beit Kahil, Palestinian towns near Hebron, an area hundreds of soldiers were scouring for more than a week. Micky Rosenfeld, a spokesman for the Israel Police, said the three teenagers — Naftali Fraenkel, 16, an American-Israeli citizen; his friend Gilad Shaar, also 16; and Eyal Yifrach, 19 — appeared to have been fatally shot shortly after they got into a car near the Kfar Etzion settlement south of Jerusalem. |
| The lack of a ransom demand, credible claim of responsibility, or any other signs that the teenagers might be alive made many Israelis suspect the worst. Paratroopers, special forces units, Bedouin tracker teams and dogs combed through caves day after day with no indication of progress. | |
| Benny Drupper, a member of the search team, said that signs of a discovery emerged Monday afternoon when “one of the guys spotted something abnormal” in “an isolated, half-cultivated area” among the Hebron hills. | |
| “He moved some of the rocks and discovered a body,” Mr. Drupper said on Army Radio. “It is not an area someone would drive through every day unless he is a farmer there,” he added. “The search in this area was conducted with the understanding that a terrorist would think about such a location beforehand.” | “He moved some of the rocks and discovered a body,” Mr. Drupper said on Army Radio. “It is not an area someone would drive through every day unless he is a farmer there,” he added. “The search in this area was conducted with the understanding that a terrorist would think about such a location beforehand.” |
| Though one of the teenagers phoned the police about 10:30 p.m. on June 12 and whispered, “I’ve been kidnapped,” the call was dismissed as a crank, delaying the search for hours. Mr. Rosenfeld said Monday that four police officers had been suspended over the handling of the call, but that prompter action would probably not have prevented the killings. | Though one of the teenagers phoned the police about 10:30 p.m. on June 12 and whispered, “I’ve been kidnapped,” the call was dismissed as a crank, delaying the search for hours. Mr. Rosenfeld said Monday that four police officers had been suspended over the handling of the call, but that prompter action would probably not have prevented the killings. |
| As the news spread, Israeli television channels halted World Cup broadcasts and canceled prime-time shows, filling the hours with discussions of the discovery, while radio stations played sad songs. | |
| People converged in Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, sitting on the ground and lighting candles, and others said psalms at the West Bank hitchhiking post where the teenagers were last seen. In Jerusalem, a small group of religious youths marched toward Mr. Netanyahu’s official residence waving Israeli flags and chanting, “Bibi, wake up!” — using the prime minister’s nickname. | |
| Outside the Fraenkel home in Nof Ayalon, a serene suburb between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, girls and mothers wept and embraced next to a large banner with the Hebrew word for “live.” | |
| Michael Tikochinsky, a friend who was inside with the family, said Naftali’s mother, Rachel Fraenkel, “received the bad news in silence,” and was already dressed in black but had not yet told her youngest children of their brother’s fate. “I can’t talk about Naftali in the past tense,” said Ms. Tikochinsky, 45, adding that Ms. Fraenkel had only a few days ago ordered new eyeglasses for him to have when he came home. | Michael Tikochinsky, a friend who was inside with the family, said Naftali’s mother, Rachel Fraenkel, “received the bad news in silence,” and was already dressed in black but had not yet told her youngest children of their brother’s fate. “I can’t talk about Naftali in the past tense,” said Ms. Tikochinsky, 45, adding that Ms. Fraenkel had only a few days ago ordered new eyeglasses for him to have when he came home. |
| Tzurit Fenigstein, a neighbor of the Shaars in the West Bank settlement of Talmon, said in a telephone interview that a Tel Aviv rally Sunday night that drew tens of thousands “made the family feel they are not alone.” | Tzurit Fenigstein, a neighbor of the Shaars in the West Bank settlement of Talmon, said in a telephone interview that a Tel Aviv rally Sunday night that drew tens of thousands “made the family feel they are not alone.” |
| Though the focus of attention has been on the West Bank, the escalation in Gaza threatened to ignite a major confrontation. | Though the focus of attention has been on the West Bank, the escalation in Gaza threatened to ignite a major confrontation. |
| Around 2 a.m. Tuesday, Israel unleashed a barrage of two dozen bombs across the coastal territory, hitting mostly open areas, according to witnesses. The assault came after Gaza militants fired about a dozen rockets — the heaviest barrage in months — into southern Israel Monday morning as children were preparing for the last day of school. Two houses were damaged. | Around 2 a.m. Tuesday, Israel unleashed a barrage of two dozen bombs across the coastal territory, hitting mostly open areas, according to witnesses. The assault came after Gaza militants fired about a dozen rockets — the heaviest barrage in months — into southern Israel Monday morning as children were preparing for the last day of school. Two houses were damaged. |
| While most of the rocket fire since the kidnapping has been attributed to small, rogue groups, Mr. Netanyahu on Monday accused a Hamas cell of being involved. Other Israeli officials said Hamas, which has for 18 months worked to safeguard a cease-fire with Israel, has lately let the rockets fly. “Either Hamas stops it, as it is responsible for the territory, or we will stop it,” Mr. Netanyahu said. | |
| Hours later, after the bodies were discovered, Danny Danon, Israel’s deputy defense minister, issued a statement promising that the government “would not stop until Hamas is completely defeated.” | Hours later, after the bodies were discovered, Danny Danon, Israel’s deputy defense minister, issued a statement promising that the government “would not stop until Hamas is completely defeated.” |
| As Monday turned to Tuesday, Jewish settlers and Palestinian residents clashed at the entrance to Hebron, the home of the suspected kidnappers, Mr. Qawasmeh, a 29-year-old barber, and Mr. Abu Aisha, 33, who owns a store near Jerusalem. Israeli troops have repeatedly searched the men’s homes. They returned Monday night, blocking access to the houses, and fired tear gas at scores of Palestinians who showed up and threw stones. | |
| Mr. Abu Aisha’s mother, Nadia, said the Israelis had demolished her house, as they did after another son was killed in 2005 when he tried to hurl an explosive at soldiers. Amer Abu Aisha left behind three children, she said. “I will educate them to be for jihad,” she said. “I promise they will be as their father, to be fighters and to be martyrs.” | |
| Colonel Lerner, the military spokesman, said troops had used explosives only to gain entry to the homes. | Colonel Lerner, the military spokesman, said troops had used explosives only to gain entry to the homes. |
| “We are still pursuing the fugitives,” he told reporters earlier. | “We are still pursuing the fugitives,” he told reporters earlier. |