Bodies Of Three Missing Israeli Teens Reportedly Recovered After Kidnapping
The search for three missing Israeli teens has reportedly sadly concluded with the recovery of their bodies, several major news sources are reporting this morning.
A BuzzFeed correspondent in Israel has just confirmed that the Israeli teens were shot to death shortly after their capture:
Israeli officials tell @BuzzFeed the three teens were shot just hours after they were kidnapped. http://t.co/eLUYCCvT33
— Sheera Frenkel (@sheeraf) June 30, 2014
Several news sources have updated to confirm the sad news:
Israeli security forces find bodies of three kidnapped teens http://t.co/QA4Imwub5D
— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) June 30, 2014
Per Frenkel, updates on the story were initially suppressed, including reports that a gunshot was heard in the background during a phone conversation between the teens and Israeli police:
Previously under gag order: A gunshot can be heard in the background as kidnapped teens called police http://t.co/eLUYCCvT33
— Sheera Frenkel (@sheeraf) June 30, 2014
Frenkel also reports that earlier forensic evidence suggested the teens had been murdered, but the information was suppressed during the course of the investigation.
Also previously under gag order: forensic evidence found in car suggested the three teens had been killed. http://t.co/eLUYCCvT33
— Sheera Frenkel (@sheeraf) June 30, 2014
The three teens, Gilad Shaar, Eyal Yifrach, and Naftali Frenkel (a 16-year-old dual citizen of the U.S. and Israel), were kidnapped on June 12. According to ABC, Hamas is believed to be connected to the crime:
“Hamas, the Palestinian militant group accused by Israel of taking the boys, has denied kidnapping the teens, though senior Israeli and Palestinian officials agree that the abductors were likely tied to — or part of — Hamas but operating without orders from the organization’s leadership.”
In the wake of the update, many fear outbreaks of retaliatory violence. Palestinian shopkeeper Ibrahim Mansoor told BuzzFeed that the climate following the news of the teens’ deaths was ominous:
“We are being told to stay indoors, it looks bad… We can see the Israeli soldiers from our windows, we can hear shooting and we are very worried that tonight will turn ugly.”
Two members of Hamas have been implicated by Israel in the June 12 kidnapping of the teens, and Amer Abu Aysha and Marwan Kawasme remain at large. The suspects have not been seen since the boys disappeared, and Israeli police believe the men abducted the teens from a hitchhiking post near the settlement of Alon Shvut.
Police have reportedly surrounded the home of the suspect or suspects in the kidnapping and murder of the Israeli teens, and are said to have already searched the residence three times. The effort to rescue the missing teens was dubbed “Operation Brother’s Keeper.”
