Israel strikes Gaza after teenagers found dead
1 July 2014, 07:53 -- Israeli naval boats struck alleged training facilities of Hamas militants in northern Gaza on Tuesday after three abducted teenagers were found dead. The attacks followed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's vow Monday that 'Hamas will pay' for the slayings in the West Bank. The bodies of Eyal Yifrah, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Frankel, 16, were found in a field north of the city of Hebron. The Islamist movement Hamas denied involvement and accused Israel of using the deaths as a pretext for a planned military escalation against Palestinians.
'We reject all Israeli allegations and threats against us,' Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said. 'We are already used to it and will know how to defend ourselves. No Palestinian group, Hamas or any other group, has taken responsibility for the action and thus the Israeli version can't be trusted.'
The three Israeli victims were last seen at a hitchhike stop north of Hebron as they were returning home from their seminary in a nearby Jewish settlement. Israel believes that two alleged Hamas members named Marwan Qawasmeh and Amer Abu Aysha abducted the three and shot them soon afterwards.
After 18 suspenseful days and nights, which saw large-scale arrest raids in the West Bank and an escalation in rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, Israelis reacted with shock at the teens' fate. Hundreds of youths gathered in central Jerusalem's Zion and Tel Aviv's Rabin squares, lighting candles and singing. 'Hamas is responsible, and Hamas will pay,' Netanyahu said. 'They were abducted and murdered in cold blood by animals.'
Hardline ministers demanded harsh retaliation. 'There is no mercy for the murderers of children,' said Economy Minister Naftali Bennett of the pro-settler Jewish Home party. President Mahmoud Abbas called an urgent meeting Tuesday of the Palestinian leadership to discuss 'the implications' of the discovery of the bodies.
Israeli military spokesman Peter Lerner vowed that Israel would bring the perpetrators to justice. 'The terrorists who carried it out are Hamas terrorists. We are pursuing [them] in order to bring them to justice,' he said.
World leaders also condemned the killings. US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki in Washington called on Israel and the Palestinian Authority to continue security cooperation 'despite the tragedy and the enormous pain on the ground.'
French President Francois Hollande called it a 'cowardly murder' and said everything possible should be done to prevent more victims and avoid an escalation of violence.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said he was 'deeply saddened' by the 'appalling and inexcusable act of terror perpetrated against young teenagers.'
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon blamed the 'heinous act' on 'enemies of peace' and called on all sides to exercise restraint, a spokesman said.
Pope Francis, who led peace prayers in early June at the Vatican with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, condemned the 'despicable and unacceptable crime,' Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said.
Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said the 'deliberate targeting of civilians undermines all moral, legal and human principles,' but it called on the Israeli government to 'refrain from acts of vengeance' and avoid harming and collectively punishing innocent Palestinian civilians.
It called on Israeli security forces to prepare for revenge acts by radical settlers. A Knesset debate and vote scheduled for Monday on a controversial bill that would allow force-feeding of hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners was postponed amid the news, reports DPA.
Source: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_07_01/Israel- strikes-Gaza-after-teenagers-found-dead-1440/
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