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On 12 June 2014, three

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i teenagers were kidnapped at the bus/ hitchhiking stop at the

Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, or Israeli colonies, are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, overwhelmingly of Jewish ethnicity, built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community considers Israeli se ...

Alon Shvut Alon Shvut ( he, אַלּוֹן שְׁבוּת) is an Israeli settlement located southwest of Jerusalem, one kilometer northeast of Kfar Etzion, in the West Bank. Established in June 1970 in the heart of the Etzion bloc, Alon Shvut became the ...

Gush Etzion Gush Etzion ( he, גּוּשׁ עֶצְיוֹן, ' Etzion Bloc) is a cluster of Israeli settlements located in the Judaean Mountains, directly south of Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the West Bank. The core group includes four Jewish agricultural v ...

, in the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, as they were

hitchhiking Hitchhiking (also known as thumbing, autostop or hitching) is a means of transportation that is gained by asking individuals, usually strangers, for a ride in their car or other vehicle. The ride is usually, but not always, free. Nomads hav ...

to their homes. The three teens were Naftali Frenkel (16, from

Nof Ayalon Nof Ayalon ( he, נוֹף אַיָּלוֹן, ''lit.'' Ayalon View) is a community settlement in central Israel. Located in the Ayalon Valley near Sha'alvim, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Gezer Regional Council. In , it had a population ...

), Gilad Shaer (16, from Talmon), and Eyal Yifrah (19, from

Elad El'ad, also spelled Elad ( he, אלעד), is a city in the Central District of Israel. In the 1990s, it was built for a Haredi Jewish population and to a lesser extent, it was also built for a Religious Zionist Jewish population. Located about ...

). Gilad Shaer called a police emergency hotline to report the kidnapping. The emergency call recording, initially under a

gag order A gag order (also known as a gagging order or suppression order) is an order, typically a legal order by a court or government, restricting information or comment from being made public or passed onto any unauthorized third party. The phrase may ...

, was leaked to the public. After Shaer's whispered message "They kidnapped me,” the taped call also recorded shouting in Arabic from the kidnappers and several volleys of automatic gunfire. Within days, Israeli investigators, though lacking conclusive proof, strongly suspected the teenagers had been killed, and, if so, knew where the victims' bodies would probably have been dumped. IBrother's Keeper Operation in Judea & Samaria (14234161827)

IBrother's Keeper Operation in Judea & Samaria (14234161827)

The

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

initiated Operation Brother's Keeper ( he, מבצע שובו אחים, ''Mivtza Shuvu Ahim'') in search of the three teenagers. As part of the operation, in the following 11 days Israel arrested around 350 Palestinians, including nearly all of

Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...

' West Bank leaders. Five Palestinians were killed during the military operation. On 15 June, Israeli Prime Minister

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...

said that the teens had been kidnapped by Hamas, which Hamas denied. Palestinian president

Mahmoud Abbas Mahmoud Abbas ( ar, مَحْمُود عَبَّاس, Maḥmūd ʿAbbās; born 15 November 1935), also known by the kunya Abu Mazen ( ar, أَبُو مَازِن, links=no, ), is the president of the State of Palestine and the Palestinian Natio ...

maintained that as of 22 June there was no evidence that Hamas was behind the kidnapping. On 25 July,

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

correspondent Jon Donnison tweeted that Israeli police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld stated that the kidnappings did not occur on the orders of, or with the knowledge of the Hamas leadership, and that the crime was the action of a "lone cell." Sheera Frenkel had reported similar views from Israel and Palestinian sources some ten days earlier. Rosenfeld later denied having used the words "lone cell."Batya Ungar-Sargon
"Did Israel Say Hamas Didn’t Kidnap Its Teens? No."
'' Tablet'', 28 July 2014. On 5 August, Israel said that it had arrested Hussam Qawasmeh, a cousin of Marwan Qawasmeh, on 11 July, who is suspected of having organized the killing of the three teenagers. According to court documents, Qawasmeh stated that Hamas members in Gaza financed the recruitment and arming of the killers. Hussam Qawasmeh's lawyers stated that he confessed under "heavy torture" from Israeli security services,

Shin Bet The Israel Security Agency (ISA; he, שֵׁירוּת הַבִּיטָּחוֹן הַכְּלָלִי; ''Sherut ha-Bitaẖon haKlali''; "the General Security Service"; ar, جهاز الأمن العام), better known by the acronym Shabak ( he, ...

. Qawasmeh's lawyer stated "What he said during interrogation was that he was responsible for ordering the kidnapping,” and that " e orders came from him personally." On 26 June, the

Israel Security Agency Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

released the identities of two Hamas suspects in the kidnapping. Both ISA and Palestinian authorities said that the two men have been missing since the night of the kidnapping, and the ISA stated that both had engaged in terrorism, been arrested, and served time in the past, and were considered suspects immediately after the kidnapping. A senior Palestinian intelligence official said off the record that their disappearance constituted clear evidence the two suspects have links with the abduction. On 30 June, search teams found the bodies of the three missing teenagers in a field north-west of

Hebron Hebron ( ar, الخليل or ; he, חֶבְרוֹן ) is a Palestinian. city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies above sea level. The second-largest city in the West Bank (after East J ...

. They had apparently been shot dead shortly after the abduction. Prime Minister

vowed a tough response to the killings. On 20 August 2014, a

official Salah al-Arouri, who had been publicly identified as the mastermind of the operation several days after the kidnapping, on 19 June, said that the organization's armed wing, the

Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades ( ar, كتائب الشهيد عز الدين القسام, , Battalions of martyr Izz ad-Din al-Qassam; also spelt Izzedine or Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades; often shortened to Al-Qassam Brigades, IQB

, was behind the kidnapping and murder. The Shin Bet had been investigating him in the belief that he ran a major Hamas network in the West Bank, headed by Riad Nasser of Deir Qadis, near Ramallah, and that he was behind the kidnapping. Following this line of investigation may have delayed the capture of Hussam al-Qarasme, who was only arrested on 10 July. al-Arouri, one of the founders of Hamas's military wing, made his comments at a conference in Istanbul, where he lives in exile.Hamas official: we were behind the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers
''The Guardian''; retrieved 21 August 2014 The Israeli Defense establishment thinks that Arouri is unconnected with the kidnapping, and was boasting. Hamas leader

Khaled Mashal Khaled Mashal ( ar, خالد مشعل, Khālid Mashʿal, Levantine Arabic: , born 28 May 1956) is a former leader of the Palestinian organization Hamas. After the founding of Hamas in 1987, Mashal became the leader of the Kuwaiti branch of th ...

said that some Hamas members had kidnapped and murdered the Israeli teens but stated that they were not acting on orders from the Hamas leadership, which he said, were "not aware of this action taken by this group of Hamas members in advance" and the first he heard about it was through the Israeli investigation into the events. Meshaal, who has headed Hamas' exiled political wing since 2004, has denied being involved in the "details" of Hamas "military issues." He praised the kidnappers hoping the action could lead to the release of Palestinian prisoners. According to

J.J. Goldberg Jonathan Jeremy Goldberg is editor emeritus of the newspaper ''The Forward'', where he served as editor in chief for seven years (2000–07). He served in the past as U.S. bureau chief of the Israeli news magazine '' The Jerusalem Report'', m ...

, the military indictment contains no evidence of orders from Hamas itself and strengthens the thesis that the incident was organized by the Qawasmeh family alone from start to finish. According to Amos Harel and Chaim Levinson, the kidnappers planned to wait a few days, then contact senior Hamas operatives in the

area, to manage the hostage and negotiate a prisoner swap with Israel. In their view it appears doubtful that any senior Hamas official would have been ready to accept that kind of risk. On 23 September 2014, after Israel killed the two suspects, Marwan Qawasmeh and Amar Abu-Isa (aka Amer Abu Aysha) in a shootout, IDF Chief Lt. Gen.

Benny Gantz Benjamin Gantz ( he, בִּנְיָמִין "בֵּנִי" גַּנְץ, Transliterated: ; born 9 June 1959) is an Israeli politician and retired army general serving as the minister of Defense since 2020 and deputy prime minister of Israel sin ...

announced that Operation Brother's Keeper "has come to an end." On 6 January 2015, Hussam Qawasmeh, a member of Hamas, was jailed and sentenced to three life terms in prison for the murders. He must also pay $63,000 in compensation to the victims' families.

Background

2013 was a calm period with the November 2012 ceasefire being largely respected, despite 50 rockets fired by Palestinians and 10 airstrikes by Israel. According to PCHR 44 Palestinians were killed and over 100 injured, while the Israeli Security Agency reported six Israeli fatalities (all but one from the West Bank) and 44 injuries. The first half of 2014 saw an increase in tension manifested by a higher rate of injuries. Among Palestinians there were 43 fatalities in the first half of the year plus 1860 injuries. Tension was also increased by Israel's opposition to the formation of a Hamas-Fatah unity government, with threats of sanctions and the burgeoning issue of prisoners and the violation of the Shalit agreement

Nathan Thrall Nathan Thrall is an American author, essayist, and journalist based in Jerusalem. Thrall is the author of ''The Only Language They Understand: Forcing Compromise in Israel and Palestine'' (Metropolitan/Henry Holt, 2017; Picador, 2018) and a contri ...

"Hamas’s Chances"
''

London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published twice monthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review of ...

'' Vol. 36 No 16 • 21 August 2014 (1 August) pp. 10–12 Mutual attacks on each other by Israel and Gaza continued, as did the Israeli blockade of Gaza. Mainstream western media ascribe the initiation of the major 2014 conflict to the kidnapping of the three Israeli teenagers. Some news analysts believe that earlier clashes might also have played a role in the chain of events. On 15 May, two Palestinian teenagers were shot dead during the Nakba commemorations in the Beitunia killings. An autopsy report published on 9 June proved the death of one of them to be due to "live fire,” i.e. not "rubber bullets."

Ilan Pappé Ilan Pappé ( he, אילן פפה, ; born 1954) is an expatriate Israeli historian and socialist activist. He is a professor with the College of Social Sciences and International Studies at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, direc ...

"The Historical Perspective of the 2014 Gaza Massacre"
''The Plymouth Institute for Peace Research'', 21 August 2014. The Israeli Foreign Ministry web site emphasizes rocket fire from Gaza as being the reason for the IDF war on Gaza.

Victims

Eyal Yifrach, 19, lived in

El'ad El'ad, also spelled Elad ( he, אלעד), is a city in the Central District of Israel. In the 1990s, it was built for a Haredi Jewish population and to a lesser extent, it was also built for a Religious Zionist Jewish population. Located about ...

, Naftali Fraenkel (also spelled Frenkel), 16, was a dual Israeli-American citizen and lived in

. Gilad Shaer was a resident of the

of Talmon. Eyal Yifrah was a student at the on King David Street in Hebron. The other two were students of the Mekor Chaim yeshiva at

Kfar Etzion Kfar Etzion ( he, כְּפַר עֶצְיוֹן, ''lit.'' Etzion Village) is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, organized as a religious kibbutz located in the Judean Hills between Jerusalem and Hebron in the southern West Bank, established ...

in the

's Area C under full Israeli administration.

Suspects

Initial suspected perpetrators

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Hamas killed the teenagers. But opinions were divided within Israel's security services as to whether or not the two suspects had direct ties to Hamas. On 26 June, the Israel Security Agency identified two Hamas members as key suspects in the kidnapping, whom Palestinian police noted, had gone missing since the night of the kidnapping. High-ranking members of Hamas denied that the group had any involvement or foreknowledge of the incident. The two named suspects hail from the Qawasameh clan, notorious for consistently acting against Hamas's policies and its attempts to reach an entente with Israel. Hamas political chief

Khaled Meshal Khaled Mashal ( ar, خالد مشعل, Khālid Mashʿal, Levantine Arabic: , born 28 May 1956) is a former leader of the Palestinian organization Hamas. After the founding of Hamas in 1987, Mashal became the leader of the Kuwaiti branch of th ...

said he could neither confirm nor deny the kidnapping of the three Israelis, and he congratulated the abductors, because "our prisoners must be freed from the prisons of the occupation." Initially a number of groups, some previously unknown, claimed responsibility for the kidnappings: The

Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades () is a coalition of Palestinian armed groups in the West Bank. The organization has been designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, the European Union, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States. L ...

(subsequently denied); a West Bank Branch of

Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

, ''Brigades of Global Jihad'', ''Ahrar ar-Khalil'' (Liberators Battalion of Hebron), and ''Regiments of Hezbollah''. It was not clear how true their claims were, and the middle three were not considered credible.

Suspects arrest

After the kidnap of the Israeli teens, Israel commenced Operation Brother's Keeper in the West Bank. Israel killed 9 Palestinians and raided 1300 properties including commercial and residential buildings. 800 Palestinians were arrested without charge or trial. On 5 August 2014 Israel announced that Israeli security forces arrested Hussam Kawasme, in

Shuafat Shuafat ( ar, شعفاط '), also ''Shu'fat'' and ''Sha'fat'', is a mostly Palestinians, Palestinian Arab neighborhood of East Jerusalem, forming part of north-eastern Jerusalem. Located on the old Jerusalem–Ramallah road about three miles no ...

, in connection with the murders. During interrogation, Kawasme admitted to being the mastermind behind the attack, in addition to securing the funding from Hamas. Kawasme stated that after the boys were killed, Marwan Kawasme and Amer Abu Aysha drove to his house, and they proceeded to bury them in Halhoul, the land Kawasme purchased only a few weeks prior. By the time of his arrest, Kaswasme had shaved his beard and received a fake passport, in what is believed to be, part of a plan to escape to Jordan. Officials have stated that additional people arrested in connection with the murders are still being held, but no names have been released. On 20 August, Hamas member Saleh al-Arouri, who lives in Turkey, claimed Hamas' involvement in the abduction and murder, according to an Israeli channel 2 translation. He continued on calling the men who perpetrated the act heroic. Hugh Lovatt of the

European Council on Foreign Relations The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) is a pan-European think tank with offices in seven European capitals. Launched in October 2007, it conducts research on European foreign and security policy and provides a meeting space for decisi ...

said al-Arouri's claim was "suspicious": it might reflect a desire to assert his relevance within the Hamas leadership or it may be true, and reflect a power struggle within Hamas itself. On 21 August Hamas leader

claimed Hamas leadership had no prior knowledge of the abductions and murders and had learned about them through the Israeli military. The following day, NGO

Shurat HaDin Shurat HaDin (aka. Israel Law Center (ILC)) is an Israeli non-governmental organization (NGO) founded in Tel Aviv in 2003. Shurat HaDin has been described by some as a civil rights organization and others as a pro-Israel lawfare-wagi ...

, contacted US Attorney General Eric Holder to request extradition of al-Arouri. Although Turkey and Israel do not have an extradition agreement, the US and Turkey do, which it can use to extradite those who commit terrorists acts against US citizens.

Suspects killings

The two suspects Marwan Kawasme and Amar Abu Aysha were staying in a house in Hebron when IDF soldiers and Israeli counter-terrorism members,

Yamam The Yamam ( he, ימ"מ, an acronym for ''Centralized Special Unit'' , ''Yeḥida Merkazit Meyuḥedet''), also called in Hebrew and Israel's National Counter Terror Unit (I.N.C.T.U.) in English, is Israel's national counter-terrorism unit, ...

, surrounded the building at dawn on 23 September in an attempt to arrest the suspects. Israeli forces opened fire on the building and reportedly called on the two suspects to come out. With no response the Israeli force began using a bulldozer to bring down the building. According to Israeli forces, they shot one of the men as his head rose out of a hole and began firing a rifle. After this man fell back into the home, likely dead, Israeli forces again opened fire on the house, utilizing grenades and other explosives this time, killing both men. Hebron governor Kamel Hmeid and Hamas spokesman Salah Bardawil both called the suspects martyrs. Hamas leader Khaled Mashal also called the suspects "martyrs" and "heroes."

Investigation conclusion

The investigation concluded that the kidnapping operation's costs ran to

NIS Nis, Niš, NiS or NIS may refer to: Places * Niš, a city in Serbia * Nis, Iran, a village * Ness, Lewis ( gd, Nis, links=no), a village in the Outer Hebrides islands Businesses and organizations * Naftna Industrija Srbije, Petroleum Industry o ...

220,000, a sum procured by Hossam Hassan Kawasmeh (40), with the assistance of his brother, Mahmoud, who was exiled to the Gaza Strip in the Gilad Shalit exchange in November 2011, to purchase the two vehicles and weaponry. The cars were purchased from Nuh Abu-Eisha, the weapons from Hamas operative Adnan Mahmad Izzat Zru (34) both Hebronites. His attempt to escape to Jordan, thwarted when he was arrested in the Shuafat refugee camp on 11 July, was assisted by his relatives Hisham Kawasmeh (45), Jamil Kawasmeh (38) and Hassan Kawasmeh (45) a Hamas militant. Two other Hebronites, Ahmad Ibrahim Mahmad Kawasmeh (64) and his brother, senior Hamas operative Arafat Ibrahim Mahmad Kawasmeh (50) for assistance in going into hiding, and the latter concealed them on his property. On 6 January 2015, Hussam Qawasmeh was sentenced to three life terms in prison for the murders as well as a compensation payment of $63,000 to the victims' families.

Sequence of events

Prelude

According to Israeli investigations, the seizure and killing of the three was organized by Hussam Qawasmeh, who had received $39,000 from his brother Mahmoud in Gaza, via a go-between still at large. The money financed the purchase of three M-16 rifles, a jeep, and the Israeli car, which was bought from a used-car dealer in Hebron after it was stolen from the settlement of Tzur Hadassah. Altogether, he met with Marwan five or six times before the kidnapping. The plan was to conceal one kidnapped Israeli in Marwan Qawasme's barbershop in Hebron, then transfer him to Marwan's aunt's vacant house. A first attempt on 10 June failed to find any hitchhikers. There was no intention to release the boys: from the outset the plan, considered amateurish and not professional, envisaged murdering the captives. The plot of land where they were buried had been purchased to that end some time earlier, and a refuge to escape detection had been prepared in an old house near Tufah where the two suspects hid in a disused cesspit for five days.

Week 1 (12–19 June)

Netanyahu asserted that the attack originated from PA-controlled areas, and criticized the Fatah-Hamas pact. In the first week, Israel added a further three to the six combat brigades already present in the West Bank. Close to 40

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

s were engaged in rounding up suspects, notably the Paratroopers' 35th Division and the Kfir's 900th Division. Other specialized groups, such as the

Duvdevan Unit Unit 217, frequently called Duvdevan ( he, דובדבן, lit=cherry), is a ''mistaʽaravim'' unit in the Commando Brigade of the Israel Defense Forces. It is notable for its undercover operations in urban areas, during which its operators of ...

, the

Egoz Reconnaissance Unit Unit 621, otherwise known as Egoz ( he, יחידת אגוז, ''Yehidat Egoz''. lit. "Nut"), is an elite Israel Defense Forces (IDF) commando unit specializing in guerrilla warfare, special reconnaissance, and direct action (military). It is a pa ...

and the Airborne Rescue And Evacuation Unit 669 supplement the search force. Skylark mini UAV drones were deployed, and the Yahalom combat engineering unit conducted tunnel searches. Fifty

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and A ...

IDF trackers were also used.

Day 1

Late into the night of Thursday, 12 June, teenagers Yifrach, Fraenkel, and Shaer were waiting at Geva'ot Intersection, west of the settlement of Alon Shvut in the Etzion Bloc south of Jerusalem, soon after 22:15, looking to catch a ride heading west on Route 367 toward Beit Shemesh and from there to locations in central Israel where each of them lived. The kidnappers intended to kidnap one Israeli. Apparently Yifrach, after accepting a ride, waved to the other two to join him. The Palestinians, afraid of giving their identity away if they spoke Hebrew, didn't dare object.Amos Harel and Chaim Levinson
'One year after West Bank murder-kidnapping: What Israeli security got wrong,'

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...

12 June 2015. After the car veered off from the declared direction of Ashkelon, the three realized they had been kidnapped and Shaer telephoned the police at 22:25, whispering, "I've been kidnapped." Eight attempts were made to page the caller's cellphone, without checking its ownership, and his whispered remark was taken to be one of the many pranks that night. No check was made to find out the phone's owner, or whether he was missing. Later, analysis of the tape revealed what the police failed to realize at the time, that the murders had occurred while the hotline operator was listening. Four and a half hours passed before Shaer's family finally phoned the Talmon security coordinator at 3:10 am to inform him their son Gil-Ad had not returned home. Only then did the security establishment take the case seriously, and Shin Bet and the IDF were alerted by the police. According to the Palestinian

Ma'an News Agency Ma'an News Agency (MNA; ar, وكالة معا الإخبارية) is a large wire service created in 2005 in the Palestinian territories. It is part of the Ma'an Network, a non-governmental organization media network created in 2002 in the Palest ...

, the army succeeded in tracing the call to the Sanjar region, the last cellphone signal being made at 23:20 in the Hebron area, when Fraenkel's and Shaer's cellphones had been switched off. Meanwhile, at 1 a.m. on Friday morning, Marwan knocked on Hussam's door and said, "I've murdered three Jews." A gag order was immediately placed regarding the abduction on Israeli news services (the presumed identities of the kidnappers, acolytes of senior Hamas members, were known almost from the beginning to everyone in Hebron, but kept from the Israeli public). and, in lieu of concrete details, rumours proliferated. Controversy soon raged in Israel over the police delay in reporting the call. At 11:00 on 13 June, a "

Hannibal Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...

" alert (meaning 'kidnapping') was issued. Based on cellphone and other data, Israeli investigators deduced that the kidnappers' car had stopped near Beit Kahil, west of Halhul, for 28 minutes. According to Palestinian security sources, a Hyundai i35, with seating for 5, with Israeli license plates, was torched on the night of 12 June, and subsequently found by Palestinian police from the village of

Beit Einun Beit Einun or Bayt 'Anun ( ar, بيت عينون) is a Palestinian village in the Hebron Governorate, located five kilometers northeast of Hebron in the southern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the village had ...

near Hebron. This vehicle was believed to be connected to the abduction. The suspicion arose that the use of the car displaying Israeli license plates was a trick to lull the hitchhikers into believing the vehicle was driven by Israelis. The Israeli authorities had placed the emergency call recording under a gag order but it was leaked to the public, after which the gag order was partially lifted. It then emerged that on the first day, after Gilad Shaer's whispered message "They kidnapped me," the taped emergency call also recorded a cry ("heads down!"), sounds of shouting, a volley of automatic fire, a weak voice sighing "Ai," silence, another volley of automatic fire and then singing. The burnt car discovered that morning yielded evidence of numerous blood-stains. Israeli police assumed correctly that bodies must have been buried in that vicinity. What they did not know is that the bodies had been taken from the provisory burial site and reburied beyond the radius of research. Notwithstanding this, the Israeli authorities began to broadcast the message that the boys were abducted, not that they had been murdered.

Days 2–3

On 14–15 June, the Hebron and South Hebron Hills areas were the focus of investigations by a large number of troops. Soldiers numbering 2,500 together with security agents, police, and special forces engaged in a manhunt, scouring numerous villages, including

Beit Ummar Beit Ummar ( ar, بيت اُمّر) is a Palestinian town located eleven kilometers northwest of Hebron in the Hebron Governorate of the State of Palestine. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, in 2016, the town had a populat ...

, Beit Einun,

Halhul Halhul ( ar, حلحول, transliteration: ''Ḥalḥūl'') is a Palestinian city located in the southern West Bank, north of Hebron in the Hebron Governorate of the State of Palestine. The town, bordered by Sa'ir and Ash-Shuyukh to the east, ...

, Dura,

as-Samu As Samu' or es-Samu' ( ar, السموع) () is a town in the Hebron Governorate of the West Bank, Palestine, 12 kilometers south of the city of Hebron and 60 kilometers southwest of Jerusalem. Geography The area is a hilly, rocky area cut by ...

Tarqumiyah Tarqumiyah ( ar, ترقوميا) is a Palestinian city located 12 kilometers northwest of Hebron, in the southern West Bank, in the Hebron Governorate of the State of Palestine. History Tarqumiyah is an ancient town situated on a rocky hill. Ci ...

, Beit Kahil, Yatta,

Taffuh Taffuh ( ar, تفّوح) (lit. fragrance) is a Palestinian town located eight kilometers west of Hebron.The town is in the Hebron Governorate in the southern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a popu ...

, and Tapuah in what the IDF termed 'Operation Shuvu Achim (Return, Brothers/Bring Back Our Brothers),' and referred to in English as 'Brother's Keeper'. An anonymous "security source" claimed that little resistance was encountered because the local populations have become accustomed in recent years to regular night raids by the IDF. The sound of rubber-coated bullets and tear-gas canisters were heard. Over the weekend, Israeli security forces also arrested around 80 Palestinians, among them senior members of Hamas, accused of being connected to the kidnapping, in a sweep that rounded up former government leaders, clerics, university lecturers, and militants of both Hamas and Islamic Jihad across the West Bank. In Hebron's Ein Deir Baha neighborhood Israeli forces broke down a door, apparently by firing a missile, after surrounding the house of Akram al-Qawasami. He, his 8-year-old son Muhammad and younger daughter Sujoud were injured by shrapnel, and two Hamas operatives, among them Zaid Akram al-Qawasami, were arrested inside. The military also fully closed the Hebron area and Gaza crossings, only allowing passage for humanitarian cases. On Sunday, Netanyahu said what he had only hinted at previously, that Israel "knew for a fact" that the abduction had been carried out by Hamas, a position the IDF had avoided explicitly stating. He did, however, not provide any evidence. Security officials remained more cautious, tending to accept the probability that a Hebronite Hamas cell was involved, but uncertain whether it was a local initiative to secure prisoner releases or an operation approved by the Hamas leadership in Gaza. A remark by

Moshe Ya'alon Moshe "Bogie" Ya'alon ( he, משה יעלון; born Moshe Smilansky on 24 June 1950) is an Israeli politician and former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, who also served as Israel's Defense Minister under Benjamin Netanyahu from 2013 ...

about the "very heavy price" Hamas leaders might pay was interpreted by one journalist as hinting Israel might be mulling the option of resuming its campaign of

targeted killings Targeted killing is a form of murder or assassination carried out by governments outside a judicial procedure or a battlefield. Since the late 20th century, the legal status of targeted killing has become a subject of contention within and be ...

, this time against the Hamas leadership. Israel's Deputy Minister of Defense,

Danny Danon Danny Danon (Hebrew: דני דנון, born 8 May 1971) served as Israel’s 17th Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and currently serves as Chairman of the World Likud. Danon previously served as a member of the Knesset from the Liku ...

, threatened "possible actions" in Gaza and

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ar, رام الله, , God's Height) is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank that serves as the ''de facto'' administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusale ...

Day 4

Overnight on 16 June, the IDF clashed with Palestinians in

Jenin Jenin (; ar, ') is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank. It serves as the administrative center of the Jenin Governorate of the State of Palestine and is a major center for the surrounding towns. In 2007, Jenin had a population of app ...

, where they ransacked the offices of

Mustafa Barghouti Mustafa Barghouti ( ar, مصطفى البرغوثي; born 1 January 1954) is a Palestinian physician, activist, and politician who serves as General Secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative (PNI), also known as al Mubadara. He has been ...

Palestinian National Initiative Palestinian National Initiative ( ar, المبادرة الوطنية الفلسطينية ''al-Mubādara al-Waṭaniyya al-Filasṭīniyya'') is a Palestinian political party led by Mustafa Barghouti. Its formation was formally announced on 17 ...

and confiscated computers, and 400 soldiers raided the Jalazone refugee camp near

, killing Ahmad Arafat Samada (Ahmad Sabarin) (21) with a gunshot wound in the chest. The Israeli army said he threw a brick at the Israeli soldiers. A dragnet rounded up a further 50 people, bringing the total of Palestinians detained to 150. Many arrests, including the former speaker of the

Palestinian Legislative Council The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) is the unicameral legislature of the Palestinian Authority, elected by the Palestinian residents of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It currently comprises 132 members, e ...

Aziz Duwaik Aziz Dweik ( ; ar, عزيز دويك ) (born January 12, 1948) is the Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) since his election to that post on 18 January 2006. Dweik, as speaker of the PLC, is recognized by many Palestinians incl ...

, 66, were part of what IDF Chief of Staff

described as an extensive operation, and were not linked to the search for the youths, but were part of a crackdown to apply pressure on Hamas. Netanyahu's approach has been interpreted as aimed at driving a wedge between

Fatah Fatah ( ar, فتح '), formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is a Palestinian nationalist social democratic political party and the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...

and Hamas in order to break up the reconciliation between the two negotiated in April 2014, and discredit both Abbas and his government, which has been backed by Western countries. PA sources noted that Hamas, in the unity negotiations, had undertaken to desist from attacks and bloodshed, and if its involvement were proven, it would be a breach of the agreement that would render the reconciliation null and void, a point repeated later in the week by the Palestinian Foreign Minister. Palestinian Weapons Exposed During Operation Brother’s Keeper (14256563989)

Palestinian Weapons Exposed During Operation Brother’s Keeper (14256563989)

Day 5

Overnight 16–17 June, the

IDF IDF or idf may refer to: Defence forces * Irish Defence Forces * Israel Defense Forces *Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006 * Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917 Organizations * Israeli Diving Federation * Interac ...

arrested more than 200 Palestinians. Anything linked to Hamas was being targeted, an official source said. The IDF shifted its attentions north, and deployed 1,000 soldiers from the Nahal Brigade for operations around

Nablus Nablus ( ; ar, نابلس, Nābulus ; he, שכם, Šəḵem, ISO 259-3: ; Samaritan Hebrew: , romanized: ; el, Νεάπολις, Νeápolis) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a populati ...

. In particular the Balata refugee camp and the village of

Awarta Awarta ( ar, عورتا) is a Palestinian town located southeast of Nablus, in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 5,623 inhabitants in 2007.

were scoured in what a spokesman called '"cleaning house" in the "terror capital of Nablus"', and a further 41 Palestinians were detained, among them the manager of the Hamas-run television channel

Al-Aqsa TV Al-Aqsa TV ( ar, قناة الأقصى) is a television channel run by Hamas, which is based in the Gaza Strip. Its programs include news and propaganda promoting Hamas, children's shows (such as ''Tomorrow's Pioneers'', that promotes violence ...

, bringing the number of arrests to 200. Israeli soldiers confiscated a large cache of weapons and uncovered a weapons manufacturing lab in Nablus. Conflicting reports emerged on Israel's collaboration with both the PNA and other regional governments. Israel's

Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) is a unit in the Israeli Ministry of Defense that engages in coordinating civilian issues between the Government of Israel, the Israel Defense Forces, international organizatio ...

Yoav Mordechai Yoav (Poli) Mordechai ( he, יואב מרדכי; born March 25, 1964, in Jerusalem) is a retired major general in the Israel Defense Forces. He concluded his 36-year career in the IDF in 2018 as the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Terr ...

, denied on 16 June that Israel coordinated the search with Palestinian or Egyptian authorities. However, Israel military intelligence confirmed that Israel was working closely with both the PA authorities and Egypt. Egyptian sources stated the same day that Israel had requested their assistance, and that President

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi; (born 19 November 1954) is an Egyptian politician and retired military officer who has served as the sixth and current president of Egypt since 2014. Before retiring as a general in the Egyptian mil ...

had issued directives to his security services to undertake negotiations with all parties. On 17 June, Israel defence sources said PNA assistance had been "very professional."

Day 6

On the night of 18 June, Israel seized a further 64 Palestinians, of whom 51 were Hamas members who had been previously arrested but released in the

Gilad Shalit Gilad Shalit ( he-a, גלעד שליט, Shalit.ogg, ''Gilˁad Šaliṭ'', born 28 August 1986) is a former MIA soldier of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) who on 25 June 2006, was captured by Palestinian militants in a cross-border raid via tu ...

exchange in 2011, bringing to 240 the number of arrests. In six days, the government sources announced, they had searched 800 structures, including the Al-Aqsa radio station in Ramallah and the Hebron-based TransMedia communications company, both linked to Hamas. They were taken in operations in Hebron, Jenin, Nablus, Yatta, Taffuh, Dura, Beit Kahil,

East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the sector of Jerusalem that was held by Jordan during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to the western sector of the city, West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Jerusalem was envisaged as a separat ...

Idhna An internationalized domain name (IDN) is an Internet domain name that contains at least one label displayed in Application software, software applications, in whole or in part, in non-latin script or alphabet, such as Arabic, Bengali language, ...

, Surif, Beit Ula, Beit Awwa,

Deir Sharaf Deir Sharaf ( ar, دير شرف) is a Palestinian town in the Nablus Governorate in northern West Bank, located northwest of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the town had a population of 2,759 inhabitants ...

Salfit Salfit ( ar, سلفيت) pronounced "Salfeet" is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the central West Bank, and the capital of the Salfit Governorate of the State of Palestine. Salfit is located at an altitude of , adjacent to the Israeli settleme ...

, Audla, Tell, Beit Furik and

Qabatiya Qabatiya ( ar, قباطية, also spelled Qabatia, Qabatya, and Kabatiya) is a Palestinian city located in the Jenin Governorate of the State of Palestine, in the northern West Bank, located 6 km south of Jenin. According to the Palesti ...

. The overnight operations also secured the defenses of Israeli settlements. However, in the process 300,000 Palestinians were left under curfew, 600,000 in the area had their movements restricted, and Hebronites with permission to work in Israel, an estimated 20,000, were denied entrance into Israel and thus their livelihood, and, according to an IDF spokesmen, Palestinians preparing for the

Ramadan , type = islam , longtype = Religious , image = Ramadan montage.jpg , caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...

holiday have "taken a hit." Home Front Defense Minister

Gilad Erdan Gilad Menashe Erdan ( he, גִּלְעָד מְנַשֶּׁה אֶרְדָן, ; born 30 September 1970) is an Israelis, Israeli politician and diplomat serving as Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations since 2020. Erdan previo ...

also stated that Israel had identified the Hamas cell responsible for the kidnapping.

Day 7

Overnight on 19 June, troops raided the

Bir Zeit University Birzeit University (BZU; ar, جامعة بيرزيت) is a public university in the West Bank, in the State of Palestine, registered by the Palestinian Ministry of Social Affairs as charitable organization. It is accredited by the Ministry of H ...

's student union searching for incriminating evidence, finding promotional material for Hamas. The Prime Minister declared at a press conference: "We know more today than we did a few days ago." The IDF arrested 25 wanted Palestinians in the West Bank, and searched 200 homes. Nine more raids were launched against Hamas social services (Dawah) centers. Moshe Ya'alon outlawed West Bank activities of the British Muslim charity, Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW) because some of its offices employed Hamas members. In East Jerusalem, a social centre operated from a

Beit Safafa Beit Safafa ( ar, بيت صفافا, he, בית צפפה; lit. "House of the summer-houses or narrow benches") is a Palestinian town along the Green Line, with the vast majority of its territory in East Jerusalem and some northern parts in West ...

mosque in Beit Safafa village, and a Sur Baher charity were also closed down. By night's end, 49 Palestinians had been arrested. One of the refugee camp detainees complained that soldiers had stolen $580 from his wallet.

Week 2 (20–26 June)

Day 8

Throughout the week, the arrest of Hamas leaders went quietly as they acceded to their detention, but by Friday, 20 June, sporadic popular resistance began to emerge. Three Palestinians were wounded in a raid on Qalandiya refugee camp, near Jerusalem, while another five were wounded in clashes at the Dheisheh refugee camp by

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...

, whose Ibdaa cultural center was wrecked, cheques and money from its safe, together with five computers, confiscated. Four of the victims were reportedly run over by an Israeli jeep. Also on 20 June, Israeli soldiers near the Qalandiya checkpoint in Ramallah fired live rounds at a group of Palestinians who had thrown homemade grenades at them. Mustafa Hosni Aslan, 22, received a gunshot wound to the head, and died on 25 June. Live fire was used according to the IDF in response to

Molotov cocktail A Molotov cocktail (among several other names – ''see other names'') is a hand thrown incendiary weapon constructed from a frangible container filled with flammable substances equipped with a fuse (typically a glass bottle filled with flamma ...

pipe bomb A pipe bomb is an improvised explosive device which uses a tightly sealed section of pipe (material), pipe filled with an explosive material. The containment provided by the pipe means that simple Explosive material#Low explosives, low explosi ...

s, one makeshift grenade, firecrackers, and stones being thrown at soldiers at the camps. In Dura's Haninia neighbourhood, after a night-long raid, involving many clashes with local youths, to detain a person Israelis consider to be a terrorist, as troops were withdrawing, eyewitness testimonies reported that a retreating Israeli soldier fired six shots and killed 15-year-old Mohammed Dudeen. Twenty-five more Palestinians were arrested at Dura and Dheisheh, bringing the number of detainees to 320, of which 240 are considered Hamas operatives. The number of sites searched mounted to 1,150, of which 1,000 buildings were damaged, the figure including over 750 homes. According to Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki Israel had destroyed 150 homes by week's end. In another dawn raid on the Dean's Office and Student Union of the Arab American University in Jenin papers were seized, and Amir Saadi, 17, was shot in the shoulder. The villages of

Arraba Arraba ( ar, عرّابة) can refer to the following: *Arraba, Israel *Arraba, Jenin Other *Arabah See also *Araba (disambiguation) Araba may refer to: Places and jurisdictions * the Ancient Arab Kingdom of Hatra, a Roman-Parthian buffer state ...

, Al-Louz, and

Artas ARTAS (ATM suRveillance Tracker And Server) is a system designed by Eurocontrol to operationally support Aerial surveillance and Air traffic control by establishing an accurate Air Situation Picture of all traffic over a pre-defined geographical ...

were also raided. Riyad al-Malki demanded Israel produce evidence that Hamas was culpable, stating that Netanyahu cannot "keep blaming one side without showing evidence." He said Israel's massive military sweeps were unacceptable, with 300 Palestinians taken in exchange for three Israeli kids, but the Palestinian authority would act to prevent an

uprising Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...

, for "if the situation continues as it is, this will end up (with) the destruction of what we have built in Palestine." On Friday night, Israeli security spokesmen said the "noose was tightening" as troops were concentrated near Hebron, with intelligence officials confident that attempts to move the youths to either Jordan, Gaza, or the Sinai had failed. A spokesman for the Prime Minister, Amos Gilead, stated that Netanyahu's view that Hamas was responsible was "built on the base of firm intelligence." IDF forces ransacked Bethlehem's biggest Islamic charity, devoted to orphan's care, in the Jabal al-Mawalih neighborhood and took away computers and files.

Day 9

On 21 June, Israeli forces concentrated their investigations on villages north of Hebron, searching wells, pits, and houses. According to Palestinian reports, an elderly man, Ali Abed Jabir, either died during an altercation with Israeli troops who broke into his home while ransacking houses in the village of Haris, or was denied passage for medical treatment after suffering a heart attack. Israel sources state the house was not raided and, on being told of the heart-attack, an Israeli ambulance was called. A further 39 Palestinians, primarily in Hebron and Bethlehem, were arrested in overnight raids, bringing the number seized to roughly 370, 75 of whom had been released in the 2011 prisoner swap. IDF sources challenged the report, saying only 10 Hamas 'terrorists' were seized. Further claims of soldiers stealing money were made by villagers in Beit Kahil. In the village of

al-Bireh Al-Bireh, al-Birah, or el-Bira ( ar, البيرة; also known historically as Castrum Mahomeria, Magna Mahomeria, Mahomeria Major, Birra, or Beirothah) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian city in the central West Bank, north of Jerusalem. It i ...

, several houses were ransacked, and soldiers broke into the Noon Center for Islamic Studies and the Palmedia TC company where they confiscated computers and damaged furniture. The IDF said cash had been confiscated in 21 homes of the 146 homes searched overnight. Palestinian sources also stated that in a predawn raid in Nablus, a female reporter was assaulted and troops shot and injured two Palestinian teenagers. In the late afternoon three fire trucks, with pumps to empty pools of water, and an ATV rescue unit were rushed to assist special forces searching an area riddled with caves and wells north of Hebron, between

Highway 35 The following highways are numbered 35: International * European route E35 Canada * Alberta Highway 35 * British Columbia Highway 35 * Ontario Highway 35 * Quebec Autoroute 35 *Saskatchewan Highway 35 China * G35 Expressway Costa Rica * ...

and

Highway 60 The following highways are numbered 60: International * AH60, Asian Highway 60 * European route E60 Australia * Bruxner Highway * Dawson Highway (Rolleston to Gladstone) - Queensland State Route 60 Brazil * BR-060 Canada * Alberta Highway 60 ...

, reportedly without concrete intelligence leads. Netanyahu reaffirmed that 'the information in Israel's hands unequivocally indicates that Hamas is responsible for the abduction of the youths.'

Day 10

Street in Ramallah after IDF raid during Operation Brother’s Keeper June 2014 2

On 22 June, Israeli units shot dead two Palestinians and wounded another 11 in overnight clashes in Ramallah and Nablus, while nine (Israeli statistic) to 38 (Palestinian statistic). The list notes 16 from Hebron, 19 from Bethlehem and three from Jenin. were arrested and five charity offices were raided. Israeli forces also raided

Abu Dis Abu Dis or Abu Deis ( ar, أبو ديس) is a Palestinian village in the West Bank, in the Jerusalem Governorate of the State of Palestine, bordering Jerusalem. Since the 1995 Oslo II Accord, Abu Dis land has been mostly part of " Area B", unde ...

and

Al-Quds University Al-Quds University ( ar, جامعة القدس) is a Palestinian university with campuses in Jerusalem, Abu Dis, al-Bireh, and Hebron. Overview The idea of establishing an institution of higher learning in the outskirts of Jerusalem was con ...

's law faculty, seizing flags and several computers. Ahmad Said Suod Khalid (27), an epileptic, of Ein Beit al-Ma' refugee camp was shot in the abdomen, back, and thigh, for refusing an order to turn back as he insisted on going to a mosque for dawn prayers. Muhammad Ismail Atallah Tarifi (30) was found dead on the roof of a building opposite an Israeli sniper position, an autopsy found he was shot dead by an

M16 The M16 rifle (officially designated Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of military rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States military. The original M16 rifle was a 5.56×45mm automatic rifle with a 20-roun ...

, a rifle in use with the IDF. Mourners at his funeral in al-Bireh later complained that settlers from

Psagot Psagot ( he, פְּסָגוֹת, ''lit.'' Peaks) is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, located on Tawil hill, adjacent to the State of Palestine, Palestinian cities of Ramallah and al-Bireh. Established in 1981, it is organised as a commun ...

had fired at them, injuring one. Palestinians, protesting at the cooperation given Israeli forces by their own police, who dispersed crowds by firing live ammunition in the air, smashed four local police cars in Ramallah, and, once Israelis had withdrawn from the city, raided a police station in Al Manara Square. Abbas, affirming that he was not convinced Hamas was responsible, called on Netanyahu to condemn two earlier killings, and asked if the criminal kidnapping justified 'the killing of Palestinian youth in cold blood?' The Palestinian Prisoners' Society named 420 people so far arrested, claimed Israel consistently understated the numbers and refused to disclose where they are detained. On Sunday, the Palestinian Authority asked for an urgent convening of the

UN Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, and ...

, while mulling an appeal both to the High Contracting Parties of the Fourth Geneva Convention and the

UN General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

to put an end what it considered to be "collective punishment," "Israeli terrorist aggression against the

State of Palestine Palestine ( ar, فلسطين, Filasṭīn), Legal status of the State of Palestine, officially the State of Palestine ( ar, دولة فلسطين, Dawlat Filasṭīn, label=none), is a state (polity), state located in Western Asia. Officiall ...

," and what

Hanan Ashrawi Hanan Daoud Mikhael Ashrawi ( ar, حنان داوود مخايل عشراوي ; born 8 October 1946) is a Palestinian politician, legislator, activist, and scholar who served as a member of the Leadership Committee and as an official spokesperson ...

termed "a reign of terror directed against a captive Palestinian population."

Day 11

On 23 June, 80 locations, including seven Hamas-linked charities, were raided from the Nablus to Hebron and Jenin areas, with a further 37 Palestinians detained overnight. Four money-changing shops in Hebron and one in Bethlehem were also searched, and their computers confiscated. The number of Palestinians under detention rose to 471. An officer interviewed on

Walla! Walla! Communications Ltd. ( he, וואלה! תקשורת בע"מ) is an Israeli internet company headquartered in Tel Aviv and is fully owned by The Jerusalem Post. Until 2020, it was fully owned by Bezeq. Walla!'s web portal provides news, sea ...

said that Israel, having achieved most of its "band of targets,” would close the operation, and that the military incursion pattern in the West Bank, apart from detention raids, would stop within days. No clue to the teenagers' whereabouts, had turned up, but the operation, in crippling Hamas's infrastructure, had been a success. Netanyahu declared: "We've pretty much figured out who are the kidnappers—the actual perpetrators, the supporters, the command structure—and there's no question, these are members of Hamas."

Day 12

On 24 June 120 buildings were searched and four to 13 Palestinians were rounded up by Israeli forces in the Hebron area, Beit Kahil, Beit Awwa, al-Arrub refugee camp, and the Hebron neighbourhoods of al-Mahawir, al-Bassa, and al-Hawooz, bringing the number of sites examined to 1,800 and the number of detained Palestinians, in the IDF calculation, to 354, or according to Palestinian sources, over 500. As town searches and arrests wound down, investigators shifted their focus to interrogations of detainees and scrutiny of the 150 security cameras in the area in which the kidnapping is believed to have taken place. The IDF said it had no substantial lead on the boys' whereabouts, or fate. A lawyer for the PA said that in the wake of the West Bank round-up, the number of Palestinian minors detained in Israeli jails exceeded 250, and that the hunt for the missing Israeli youths served to cover up this fact.

Day 13

On 25 June, 17 Palestinians were arrested overnight in Yatta, Beit Ummar, Hebron and Bethlehem among them legislative council members Khalid Tafish and Anwar Zaboun, both of Bethlehem, bringing the number of Palestinian legislators arrested in the campaign to 12. Of the 19 people arrested in Beit Ummar since the start of the search, 14 are minors. A Palestinian youth in Khursa, Younis al-Rjoub (18), was shot in the abdomen during a clash with Israeli soldiers.

Day 14

On 26 June, the Israel Security Agency released the names of two Hamas suspects. The ISA stated that both men had engaged in terrorism, been arrested and served time in the past, and were immediately considered suspects. ISA and Palestinian authorities said they had disappeared from their homes on the night of the kidnapping, and ISA believed them to be integral members of the kidnapping group. Overnight, 136 structures were searched and a further 10 Palestinians were arrested in the Hebron area on suspicion of being terrorists. Fatima Ismail Issa Rushdi (78) died of a heart attack during an Israeli raid on the Arruba refugee camp. Nine youths were injured by tear gas or rubber bullets. Two boys, aged 13 and 14, were arrested in Dura. 44-year-old Ismail Ahmad al-Hawamda was shot in the foot, running away from a checkpoint in the Hebron district town of al-Samu. Despite the

Oslo Accords The Oslo Accords are a pair of agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993;

stipulating coordination with the PA security service for Israeli entry into West Bank Areas in the

Area A Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an open s ...

, in what was called an "unprecedented" move, Israeli units raided the Tunis and Rafidia neighbourhoods of Nablus and Balata refugee camp without prior clearance. Two hundred homes in Awarta were also raided. According to Israeli figures, state detentions numbered 381, of whom 282 are affiliated to Hamas. The number of locations searched rose to 1,955, including 64 Hamas institutions. Palestinian figures state that 566 were detained, six were shot dead, and over 120 wounded; two elderly people died of heart attacks during Israeli operations, and more than 1,200 homes were searched.

Week 3 (27 June – 3 July)

Day 18

On 30 June, a search team located the bound bodies of the three boys on land purchased recently by the Qawasmeh family in an open field near Khirbet Aranava in the Wadi Tellem area, between Halhul and

Karmei Tzur Karmei Tzur, or Carmei Tzur ( he, כַּרְמֵי צוּר) is an Israeli settlement organized as a community settlement in the West Bank located north of Hebron in the Judean hills between the Palestinian towns of Beit Ummar and Halhul. The ...

, about west of the former, just north of Hebron. A high security source revealed that: The ambulance carrying the three bodies was attacked by Palestinians as it left Halhul, the location where the bodies had been found. The Palestinians hurled rocks and paint at the ambulance, smashing its windshield and blinding the windows, but failed to cause the driver to lose control. Just after midnight, Israeli military detonated explosives in the Hebron homes of the two main suspects, Marwan Qawasmeh and Amer Abu Aisha.

Day 19

The joint funeral of Yifrach, Fraenkel, and Shaer was scheduled for 17:30 on 1 July. Huge crowds delayed it for over an hour. Israeli jets and helicopters struck 34 locations in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip in response to more than 20 rockets being fired at Israel from Gaza. A 19-year-old Palestinian man, Yousouf Al-Zagha, was shot dead by Israeli troops during a raid in the northern town of Jenin. An IDF spokesperson said the man had thrown a grenade at the troops, while his family maintained he had been carrying eggs home for suhoor, the predawn meal during the fast of Ramadan.

Day 20

A Palestinian teenager was abducted from East Jerusalem and murdered. Israeli police located the body within hours, and arrested Israeli nationalist suspects several days later. The

kidnapping and murder of Mohammed Abu Khdeir The kidnapping and murder of Mohammed Abu Khdeir occurred early on the morning of 2 July 2014. Khdeir, a 16-year-old Palestinian, was forced into a car by Israeli citizens on an East Jerusalem street. His family immediately reported the fact to ...

was soundly denounced by all of the families of the Israeli kidnapping victims as well as by many Israeli governmental and non-governmental public figures.

Week 4 and on (4 July and after)

On 4 July, Israel stated it was searching for a third suspect, Husam Dofsh, absent from his home since the kidnapping. A relative, Jihad Dofsh, had blown himself up in a "work accident" in a Hamas explosives laboratory in Hebron, and one of Qawasmeh's relatives had died in the same incident. Husam Dofsh was arrested in a Hebron coffee-shop the following day, after phoning an Israeli news site to protest his innocence. For about two weeks in July, Israeli military preparations began for direct fighting inside of Gaza, whilst Hamas rocket fire into Israel took place. The military publicly announced on 17 July that it would go into Gaza, an intervention that caused at least 25 soldiers killed and scores injured on the Israeli side over the 20 to 21 July period. Public opinion in the nation is strongly divided, with, for example, the newspaper ''

'' editorializing that the "soft Gaza sand... could turn into quicksand" and warning about the "wholesale killing" of Palestinian civilians. The campaign in the Gaza is referred to by Israel as

Operation Protective Edge The 2014 Gaza War, also known as Operation Protective Edge ( he, מִבְצָע צוּק אֵיתָן, translit=Miv'tza Tzuk Eitan, ), was a military operation launched by Israel on 8 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territories, Pale ...

. On 20 August, Hamas official Saleh Al-'Arouri spoke at the conference of the

International Union of Muslim Scholars The International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS; ar, الاتحاد العالمي لعلماء المسلمين; ') is an organization of Muslim Islamic theologians headed by Ahmad al-Raysuni described as the "supreme authority ...

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, where he said the group's military wing was responsible for the kidnapping of the three Israeli teens, saying it was an expression of popular will.

, the Hamas leader, while recognizing that Hamas members were responsible, attempted to distance his organization from the killing two days later. Stating Hamas's opposition to killing civilians, he said the leadership had no advance knowledge of the abduction, which he regarded as a legitimate act by a frustrated people living under occupation, and that it had only learnt of its details from Israeli investigations. In July, demolition orders were handed out to the Qawasmeh and Abu Eisheh families and to Husam Ali Al Qawasmeh who was not a suspect in the killing but arrested for being a Hamas members. Despite protests from human rights groups, the families homes were demolished in August, displacing 39 Palestinians.

Aftermath

Following the kidnappings and the escalating firing of missiles by Palestinian militants towards civilians in southern Israel, Israel decides to embark on Operation Protective Edge. On 3 July 2014, the Israeli Air Force conducted 15 air strikes in Gaza directed at Hamas targets in response to a rocket attack from Palestinian militants. The previous night, fifteen Palestinians were injured in the IAF strikes and two buildings ruined

, became a ground war on 8 July 2014. On 11 July 2014, it has been reported by the nonprofit news organization

Washington Free Beacon ''The Washington Free Beacon'' is an American conservative political journalism website launched in 2012. The website is financially backed by Paul Singer, an American billionaire hedge fund manager and conservative activist. History The ' ...

, that a series of bills in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

and the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

was launched, attempting to solve the boys' murder, based on Yaakov Naftali Fraenkel's dual US-Israeli citizenship. The new legislation, if passed, would offer a $5 million reward for information on the abduction and murder.US representative

Doug Lamborn Douglas Lawrence Lamborn (born May 24, 1954) is an American attorney and politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2007. He is a member of the Republican Party. His district is based in Colorado Springs. Early life and career Born ...

said "Naftali Frenkel was an American citizen who was killed by terrorists and the United States should not rest until his killers are brought to justice (..) amazingly, the Obama administration still supports this terrorist Palestinian government, even after the death of an American citizen"

Accusations of collective punishment

On Day 7, The Palestinian Authority declared that the Israeli

modus operandi A ''modus operandi'' (often shortened to M.O.) is someone's habits of working, particularly in the context of business or criminal investigations, but also more generally. It is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode (or manner) of op ...

, of clamping down on towns with closures and continual arrest of Hamas members, constituted

collective punishment Collective punishment is a punishment or sanction imposed on a group for acts allegedly perpetrated by a member of that group, which could be an ethnic or political group, or just the family, friends and neighbors of the perpetrator. Because ind ...

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

issued a statement on 19 June calling both for the release of the Israeli youths, their humane treatment while being held, and for Israel to lift several measures it defined as collective punishment in violation of the

Fourth Geneva Convention The Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, more commonly referred to as the Fourth Geneva Convention and abbreviated as GCIV, is one of the four treaties of the Geneva Conventions. It was adopted in Augus ...

and

customary international humanitarian law Customary international humanitarian law is a body of unwritten rules of public international law, which govern conduct during armed conflict. Customary international law Customary international law, like international treaty law, is recognized as ...

. According to ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...

'', "The Israeli security forces closed off the area around Hebron. Some 23,000 local Palestinians were barred from travelling to their jobs in Israel. A series of charitable organisations that used to be run by Hamas were closed down and a dairy, which employs hundreds of Palestinians, was demolished. Hebronites were prevented from travelling abroad." In July 2014, the Geneva International Centre for Justice sent an urgent appeal to protest against the imminent house demolition of the homes of the extended families of the suspects and of Husam Ali Al Qawasmeh. The demolitions which the Centre designated as collective punishment would affect 39 people. Two scholars rejected the claim that the actions constituted collective punishment: * Robbie Sabel, a professor of

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

at the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

and a former legal adviser to Israel's Foreign Ministry, argued that Israel's actions shouldn't be considered collective punishment because they were aimed exclusively at finding the kidnapped teenagers and weakening the terrorist organizations behind their abduction and that in a search for kidnapped civilians, the arrests of members affiliated with the organization responsible for the kidnapping is legitimate. * Eugene Kontorovich, international law professor at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

and Hebrew University said: "rounding up suspects, or potential witnesses, is not punishment, but rather rudimentary investigative process; especially when the crime is thought to be committed by a complex terror organization, the number of potential witnesses is high." Kontorovich cited as an example that police often arrest members of a gang after a crime to further investigate the perpetrators or criminal acts.

Speculations on kidnapping motives

Elhanan Miller, writing for ''

The Times of Israel ''The Times of Israel'' is an Israeli multi-language online newspaper that was launched in 2012. It was co-founded by Israeli journalist David Horovitz, who is also the founding editor, and American billionaire investor Seth Klarman.

'' speculated that the motive for the kidnapping could have been to force Israel to release a large number of prisoners in exchange for the three teens. In 2011, Hamas had secured the release of over one thousand prisoners in exchange for

whom they had captured five years prior. Some 300 prisoners are on a hunger strike against the Israeli practice of holding Palestinians in

Administrative detention Administrative detention is arrest and detention of individuals by the state without trial. A number of jurisdictions claim that it is done for security reasons. Many countries claim to use administrative detention as a means to combat terrorism ...

without charges for six months or more. Many Palestinians support the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers and civilians in order to obtain the release of these prisoners. In 2011, Israel released more than a thousand Palestinians in detention, many convicted by Israeli courts for lethal attacks, in exchange for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier kidnapped by Palestinian militants. Some months before the 2014 incident, an 18-page manual on abduction techniques was published by Hamas. Entitled "Guide for the Kidnapper,” it provided an operational guide that outlined the use of pistols with silencers, the use of backup cars, the choice of conducting the abductions on rainy days, a command of Hebrew, the renting of hideouts in areas to avoid arousing suspicions and suggestions to refrain from announcing the outcome of the kidnapping until the victims were secured in a safe house. The difficulty confronting the

, which has an ongoing debate on the issue, is the coordination between the PNA and Israeli security services, which makes executing such operations difficult. Several prior incidents, such as the killings of Givati soldier Gal "Gavriel" Kobi and Baruch Mizrahi, a police intelligence officer, displayed exceptional, high-level skills, strict compartmentalization, and careful preparations for an escape route, features shared by the kidnapping. These elements resemble the carefully planned abductions of IDF soldiers by

Hezbollah Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's parami ...

on Israel's northern border. Israel said that the IDF and the Shin Bet have foiled between 54 and 64 kidnapping plots since 2013. The PA said it had foiled 43 of them. The high success rate (95%) in blocking such plots is due to the very close cooperation between the security forces of both sides. Hamas has put considerable effort into kidnapping attempts through its large network. A week into the search for the missing youth, Avi Issacharoff cast doubts on the premise for West Bank operations, which in his view 'targeted the weak'—since Hamas has neither a large or strong presence there—and argued that the operational order, if there was one, came from either Gaza, or abroad, perhaps Ankara-based deportee Saleh al-Arouri, or

Khaled Mashaal Khaled Mashal ( ar, خالد مشعل, Khālid Mashʿal, Levantine Arabic: , born 28 May 1956) is a former leader of the Palestinian organization Hamas. After the founding of Hamas in 1987, Mashal became the leader of the Kuwaiti branch of th ...

, who appeared to hint a month earlier in replying to a letter from an imprisoned Hamas leader, after Netanyahu reneged on releasing a fourth group of Palestinian prisoners, that the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades would be his reply. Issacharoff concluded however that, "There isn't a smoking gun to prove the Hamas leadership is complicit in the kidnapping." On 20 August, a Hamas official identified the West Bank Qawasmeh clan, a Hamas ally, for the kidnapping of the three Israeli teens and shared their motives. Saleh Al-'Arouri of the Hamas leadership delivered an address on behalf of

at the conference of the

. In it he said: "Our goal was to ignite an

intifada An intifada ( ar, انتفاضة ') is a rebellion or uprising, or a resistance movement. It is a key concept in contemporary Arabic usage referring to a legitimate uprising against oppression.Ute Meinel ''Die Intifada im Ölscheichtum Bahrain: ...

in the West Bank and Jerusalem, as well as within the 1948 borders... Your brothers in the Al-Qassam Brigades carried out this operation to support their imprisoned brothers, who were on a hunger strike... The

mujahideen ''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' ( ar, مُجَاهِدِين, mujāhidīn), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' ( ar, مجاهد, mujāhid, strugglers or strivers or justice, right conduct, Godly rule, etc. doers of jihād), an Arabic term th ...

captured these settlers in order to have a swap deal."

Hitchhiking debate in Israel

As events unfolded, the dangerous nature of hitchhiking in what Israelis refer to as "the territories" prompted a debate, regarded by some in the settler and religious Zionist communities as a kind of

victim blaming Victim blaming occurs when the victim of a crime or any wrongful act is held entirely or partially at fault for the harm that befell them. There is historical and current prejudice against the victims of domestic violence and sex crimes, such as ...

, about the practice of hitching rides on roads in the

Palestinian territories The Palestinian territories are the two regions of the former British Mandate for Palestine that have been militarily occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967, namely: the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. The I ...

, widely regarded as a cavalier and irresponsible habit for the costs involved in redeeming anyone who is captured. The normal Israeli practice is one where drivers pull up, declaring their destination, and, by their accent, allowing potential hikers at ''trempiada'' (hitchhiking stations) an opportunity to examine the cues, before they accept or decline a lift. Such hitchhiking has long been a hallowed method of travel among Israelis, but as abductions and killings of hitchhikers, mainly IDF soldiers, began to take root in the 1980s, one incident in October 1994 led to the passage of regulations that forbade military personnel from resorting to this method of travel. To hammer the message home, recruits doing basic training are required now to view

snuff film A snuff film, or snuff movie, or snuff video, is a type of film that shows, or purports to show, scenes of actual homicide. The concept of snuff films became known to the general public during the 1970s, when an urban legend alleged that a cland ...

s that highlight the dangers, and military police "abduct" and punish recruits who do not take it seriously. Israeli governments have not regulated civilian recourse to hitchhiking, and laws delegate responsibility to parents, expecting them to advise their children. The practice however remains widespread among the ''

dati leumi Religious Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת דָּתִית, translit. ''Tziyonut Datit'') is an ideology that combines Zionism and Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as ''Dati Leumi'' ( "National Religious"), and in Israel, the ...

'' community of

religious Zionists Religious Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת דָּתִית, translit. ''Tziyonut Datit'') is an ideology that combines Zionism and Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as ''Dati Leumi'' ( "National Religious"), and in Israel, the ...

for several reasons: many of them, as in this case, have children boarding in West Bank settlements, where public transport facilities are poor. ''Haaretz'' reported that for mitzvah-observant adolescents, it is "a rite of passage, a way of life, a declaration of independence and of ownership of the land." Retired Brigadier General, Nitzan Nuriel, a former counter-terrorism officer in the Prime Minister's Office, declared on Israeli television that hitchhiking had an ideological edge: it made a statement about who owns the territory.

Reactions

An Israeli government official stated to ''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

'' news agency that Israel was looking to use the search as a pretext for a wider crackdown on Hamas and were looking into the legal aspects of deporting Hamas leaders from the West Bank. A Hebrew-language Facebook page calling on PM Netanyahu to assume his responsibilities and requesting that a Palestinian "terrorist" be executed every hour until the three youths are restored to their families, gained 10,000 thumb-ups within hours. With a perception in Israel, expressed by Thane Rosenbaum, that the sympathy long lavished on Israel is dwindling, the government stepped up hasbara efforts abroad, especially in Brazil where the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

has dominated the world's attention. An aircraft trailed a #BringBackOurBoys banner along a Rio de Janeiro beach. The families of the missing boys went to Geneva to address the UN's Human Rights Council. * On television, Netanyahu declared that "Anyone trying to harm Israeli civilians will be harmed in return." * Israel's Economic Minister

Naftali Bennett Naftali Bennett ( he, נַפְתָּלִי בֶּנֶט, Transliterated: , ; born 25 March 1972) is an Israeli politician who served as the 13th prime minister of Israel from 13 June 2021 to 30 June 2022, and as the 3rd Alternate Prime Minist ...

said Israel will make membership of Hamas a 'ticket to hell', branding it one 'of the most "lethal, barbaric organizations in the world." Both the PA and Hamas, he affirmed, formed a 'complete culture where Israel is erceived asSatan.' * 15 June. Moshe Ya'alon cited the kidnapping as "additional testimony to the cruelty and seething hatred that guides the terror groups in our region." * 'Israel has decided to perform a root canal to uproot everything green in the West Bank,' reported on Israel's Army Radio, green also being the colour of Hamas. * Israel's ambassador to Italy, Naor Gilon, declared that "Europe backs Hamas' government and the kidnapping of children and Israeli civilians." * 'We're witnessing the unrestrained brutality of Islamic terrorism, both in Israel and around us.' Netanyahu to

Ban Ki-Moon Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Minister ...

. * 'Not only are the kidnappers terrorists, but so is

Hanin Zoabi Haneen Zoabi ( ar, حنين زعبي, he, חנין זועבי; born 23 May 1969), is a Palestinian-Israeli politician. The first Arab woman to be elected to the legislature on an Arab party's list, she served as a member of the Knesset for t ...

Avigdor Liberman Avigdor Lieberman (, ; russian: Эве́т Льво́вич Ли́берман, Evet Lvovich Liberman, ; born 5 June 1958) is a Soviet-born Israeli politician serving as Ministry of Finance (Israel), Minister of Finance since 2021, having prev ...

, writing in Facebook of his Knesset colleague. * Rabbi

Dov Lior Dov Lior ( he, דב ליאור, born 30 October 1933) is an Israeli Orthodox rabbi who served as the Chief Rabbi of Hebron and Kiryat Arba in the southern West Bank until late 2014. He is the rosh yeshiva of the Kiryat Arba Hesder Yeshiva and h ...

said the abduction was God's punishment for anti-religious legislation in the Knesset and Israel's readiness to abandon parts of the

Land of Israel The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine (see also Isra ...

Yuval Diskin Yuval Diskin ( he, יובל דיסקין; born June 11, 1956) was the 12th Director of the Israeli Internal Security Service Shabak (frequently referred to in English as the "Shin Bet") from 2005 to 2011. He was appointed by Prime Minister Ariel ...

countered: If so, why did God arrange for religious boys to be kidnapped if he was angry with secular Israelis? * The

Haredi Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in oppos ...

'' Yated Ne'eman'' claimed that government policies aimed at drafting ''yeshiva'' students into the army against their will was the cause of the abductions. * 15 June. Jews and Muslims who work fields as part of the Shorashim/Judhur cooperative project near where the kidnapping took place met and discussed their distress for several hours. * 17 June. Jews many from the Gush Etzion and Muslims held a joint prayer session at the kidnapping site. Rabbi

Michael Melchior Michael Melchior ( he, מיכאל מלכיאור; born January 31, 1954) is a Jewish leader, Orthodox rabbi, thinker, and activist. He is a former Minister of Social and Diaspora Affairs, a former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, and a former ...

said Islamic clerics were concerned and demanded the youths' immediate release, and Israel's distress was shared by Palestinians. Jerusalem Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Hawa recited the

Al-Fatiha Al-Fatiha (alternatively transliterated Al-Fātiḥa or Al-Fātiḥah; ar, ألْفَاتِحَة, ; ), is the first ''surah'' (chapter) of the Quran. It consists of 7 '' ayah'' (verses) which are a prayer for guidance and mercy. Al-Fatiha i ...

chapter of the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

, adding that 'there is a wall between our two nations, and we hope to remove the wall separating the hearts of humans.' * In an interview with ''

Globes A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model globe of ...

'' Yishai Fraenkel, uncle of the missing Naftali Fraenkel, recounted that he had received "no few messages of support and encouragement from Palestinian sources" who had said they were repulsed by the kidnapping and were "praying for the boys' welfare." * Human rights organization

B'Tselem B'Tselem ( he, בצלם, , " in the image of od) is a Jerusalem-based non-profit organization whose stated goals are to document human rights violations in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, combat any denial of the existence of su ...

condemned the kidnapping of the three students and called for their immediate release, saying "any deliberate attack against civilians is absolutely prohibited." They also cautioned Israeli authorities to uphold human rights and avoid collective punishment of the local population in their efforts to bring the students home safely. Later B'Tselem condemned the killing of the three students by saying "deliberate targeting of civilians undermines all moral, legal and human principles. The deliberate killing of civilians is defined as a grave breach of international humanitarian law, and cannot be justified, regardless of the circumstances." * Knesset Member

stated that the kidnappers were not terrorists, but frustrated people resorting to such measures 'until the citizens of Israel and the public sober up and relate to the suffering of others,' mentioning the mothers of Palestinians who are being detained without trial. * 'Three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped, but the two Palestinian kids who were killed n Fridaywere not even mentioned n your broadcast The blood of Jews is more precious than the blood of Palestinians?' Hanin Zoabi. * On 1 July 2014, settlers started two new outposts, one on a hilltop in the E1 area near

Ma'ale Adumim Ma'ale Adumim ( he, מַעֲלֵה אֲדֻמִּים; ar, معالي أدوميم) is an urban Israeli settlement organized as a city council in the West Bank, seven kilometers () east of Jerusalem. Ma'ale Adumim achieved city status in 1991. ...

and the other near

. * In late August, the

, acting on political instruction,AFP
'Israel plans to expropriate 400 hectares of West Bank, army says,'

Yahoo News Yahoo! News is a news website that originated as an internet-based news aggregator by Yahoo!. The site was created by a Yahoo! software engineer named Brad Clawsie in August 1996. Articles originally came from news services such as the Associate ...

1 September 2014. announced it was confiscating 988 acres (1.54 square miles) of privately owned Palestinian land south of

, as a response to the killing of the teens.

described the move as an "appropriate Zionist response to murder,” adding: "What we did yesterday was a display of Zionism. Building is our answer to murder."'UK, France condemn Israeli decision to appropriate West Bank land,'

net Net or net may refer to: Mathematics and physics * Net (mathematics), a filter-like topological generalization of a sequence * Net, a linear system of divisors of dimension 2 * Net (polyhedron), an arrangement of polygons that can be folded up ...

, 1 September 2014: 'Israeli media reported the move was in response to the kidnapping and murder of the three Israeli teens.' The U.S. rebuked the move as 'counter-productive', while France condemned it and Britain deplored the decision stating that it 'would seriously damage Israel's international reputation.' Defining the area as state land rather than private Palestinian land was hailed by the

settlements council as an opportunity to build up Gva'ot, an illegal

of 16 families.'Israel confiscates 1,000 acres of Palestinian land south of Bethlehem,'

31 August 2014.Peter Beaumon
'Huge new Israeli settlement in West Bank condemned by US and UK,'
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' 1 September 2014. Robert Fisk stated that it was the first time Palestinian land had been seized, not on God's warrant, or security grounds, or because of deed of title, but for revenge, a measure which set a dangerous precedent.

Social media in Israel

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

campaign was started soon after the kidnapping advocating for the safe return of the teens under the

hashtag A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-generated ...

#BringBackOurBoys. According to Robert Mackey, the campaign was initiated by a "group of Israelis trained to promote their country online" The campaign's label attempted to make the link between the then-recent #BringBackOurGirls campaign following the

Chibok schoolgirl kidnapping On the night of 14–15 April 2014, 276 mostly Christian female students aged from 16 to 18 were kidnapped by the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram from the Government Girls Secondary School at the town of Chibok in Borno State, Nigeria. P ...

in Nigeria. One of the organizers stated the social media effort "is simply a cry out to the world to bring those boys back,” adding that "We're only trying to do whatever we can to help the international community to put pressure to release those kids." On 15 June, around 25,000 people gathered for a prayer at the

Western Wall The Western Wall ( he, הַכּוֹתֶל הַמַּעֲרָבִי, HaKotel HaMa'aravi, the western wall, often shortened to the Kotel or Kosel), known in the West as the Wailing Wall, and in Islam as the Buraq Wall (Arabic: حَائِط � ...

for the release of the kidnapped teenagers.

Violent Israeli reactions

On the night of 1 July a Palestinian family registered a complaint at police concerning an attempt to kidnap their child, 10-year-old Moussa Zalum, on

Shu'fat Shuafat ( ar, شعفاط '), also ''Shu'fat'' and ''Sha'fat'', is a mostly Palestinian Arab neighborhood of East Jerusalem, forming part of north-eastern Jerusalem. Located on the old Jerusalem– Ramallah road about three miles north of the ...

's main street in Jerusalem. At the time, they reported, he was walking with his mother and brother when a car stopped and people tried to pull him into the vehicle. The child managed to wriggle free, and the car sped off. After the bodies of the three boys were found, settlers attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank were reported. Settlers from

Tel Rumeida Tel Rumeida ( ar, تل رميدة; he, תל רומיידה), also known as Jabla al-Rahama and referred to by Israeli settlers as Tel Hebron is an archaeological, agricultural and residential area in the West Bank city of Hebron. Within it, l ...

in Hebron were in the streets, attacking Palestinians and internationals. The Border Police stormed the hill towards the gathered crowd of Palestinians and internationals, exploded a sound grenade and injured a Palestinian in the following clash. On 2 July a 16-year-old Palestinian from Shu'fat camp, Mohammed Abu Khdeir, was killed; preliminary results from the autopsy suggest he was burnt alive. The boy's family believes the killing to be an act of revenge from Jewish settlers for the murder of the three Israeli teenagers. Netanyahu urged a swift inquiry into the "reprehensible murder" and called on people to respect the rule of law. On the evening of 3 July, Palestinians of Shu'fat reported to the Israeli police that four settlers from Pisgat Zeev had attempted to kidnap a 7-year-old local child, and had fled on being thwarted. On Friday Palestinians of

Osarin Osarin ( ar, أُوصرين) is a Palestinian territories, Palestinian town in the Nablus Governorate in northern West Bank, located 16 kilometers southeast of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the town had ...

near

in the

complained that one of them, 22-year-old Tariq Ziad Zuhdi Adeli, had been sprayed with a gas by settlers, abducted in a car, taken outside the village and then sustained injuries from a hatchet attack to his legs. Three days later, a video was aired, that appeared as the beating up of 15-year-old American citizen Tariq Abu Khdeir by Israeli security forces. Tariq, a second-cousin of murdered Mohammed Abu Khdeir, is a student who attends Universal Academy of Florida high school in Tampa, Florida. Israeli authorities then detained Tariq. The US State Department has called for "a speedy, transparent and credible investigation and full accountability for any excessive use of force." Israeli Border Police started an official investigation on 5 July.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, defying widespread popular Palestinian support for the kidnapping as a means of securing the release of Palestinians held in Israeli jails, criticized the action, saying the youths must be returned, and that

Palestinian Authority The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine,

security was cooperating with Israel to try to locate them. Abbas' office released a statement condemning the kidnapping and the Israeli response of raids and arrests. At US urging, Abbas was working closely with Israel to coordinate the search for the teens. A PA spokesman stated that holding Palestinian authorities responsible for kidnappings in Area C of the West Bank, where Israel exercises full military control and prohibits a Palestinian police presence places the PA in an impossible position. The Palestinian Authority's official newspaper marked the kidnapping with a cartoon that spoofed the World Cup logo. Three hands hold the globe in the FIFA World Cup logo, but in Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, three hands held small helpless figures with their hands up in surrender. While the World Cup logo says "Brazil" under it, the spoof says Khalil, the Arabic name for Hebron, a city near the site of the kidnapping. A cartoon on a Fatah Facebook page presented the three kidnapped Israeli teenagers as rats caught on three hooks on a fishing rod. Each rat was emblazoned with a Star of David, and the title of the cartoon read "Masterstroke." A picture on the same Facebook page showed a hand with words written on three of the fingers. Read in succession they said: "Three Shalits, long live Palestine." Hamas spokesmen Sami Abu Zuhri and Fawzi Barhoum criticized the PNA collaboration with Israel to track down the culprits, and Barhoum called the kidnappers "heroes." In social media, many Palestinians criticized what they see as the strong emphasis placed by Israel on the teenagers' disappearance to the detriment of Palestinian suffering, citing the case of two Palestinian boys shot dead by Israelis at a protest in

Beitunia Beitunia ( ar, بيتونيا), also Bitunya, is a Palestinian city located west of Ramallah and north of Jerusalem. The city is in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate in the central West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of ...

during a

Nakba Day Nakba Day ( ar, ذكرى النكبة, translit=Dhikra an-Nakba, lit=Memory of the Catastrophe) is the day of commemoration for the ''Nakba'', also known as the Palestinian Catastrophe, which comprised the destruction of Palestinian society an ...

protest on 15 May 2014. On

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, in response to the IDF campaign, Palestinian sympathizers appropriated the hashtag as their own, drawing attention to both Palestinian prisoners in Israeli goals and Palestinian children killed by Israeli actions. One mentioned 5,271 Palestinian political prisoners, 192 administrative detainees, 17 women and 196 children. Senior Hamas and Islamic Jihad officials have stated that kidnapping Israeli soldiers and settlers is the only route to obtain the release of Palestinian prisoners. Palestinian

and Hamas activists called on Palestinian shopkeepers and businessmen in Hebron, via Facebook, Twitter and other social media, to destroy any CCTV footage that could be used by Israel to help locate the teens. Fatah activists in Hebron also confiscated security cameras in order to frustrate the search. In the Gaza Strip, families of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel celebrated the kidnapping by handing out sweets to passersby from a protest tent that had been erected to express solidarity. Gazan Palestinians also released a song on social networks mocking the kidnappings, and called for additional abductions. A Palestinian group mounted a video on YouTube parodying the abduction, in a fictional scenario featuring an "Abu Saqer el Khalili Brigades, the Kick Ass Branch,” apparently taking the event to be an Israeli plot with Arab complicity while mocking Islamic extremism. * Hamas parliamentarian Salah Bardawil: "We are capable of igniting a third Intifada which is an irrevocable right that will go off when more pressure is exerted on the Palestinian people." * "I don't plan to punish anyone based on suspicions or because Netanyahu claims something. If Netanyahu has information, he should update me and we'll take care of it according to our laws." Mahmoud Abbas. * "The world cannot stand by while Israel, the occupying power, commits such grave breaches of international law."

International

Secretary-General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

Ban Ki-Moon released a statement condemning the abduction, expressing "deep concern on the trend toward violence on the ground and attendant loss of life, including today of a child in Gaza as a result of a recent Israeli airstrike." He expressed solidarity with the families of the abducted, called for their immediate release and called for restraint on both sides. After the dead bodies were found, Ban Ki-moon condemned the murders of the three Israeli teenagers, calling them a "heinous act by enemies of peace that aim to entrench division and distrust and widen the Middle East conflict." * In response to proposals in the Security Council to make a statement to the press condemning the kidnapping, and the collective punishment and deaths of Palestinians, no agreement could be found: the US representative

Samantha Power Samantha Jane Power (born September 21, 1970) is an American journalist, diplomat and government official who is currently serving as the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development. She previously served as the 28th ...

said that any direct criticism of Israel in the statement would constitute a 'red line' for Americans. * said that it was "very concerned" about the well-being of the teens, and that it was working with Israel and the Palestinian Authority to resolve the situation. After the dead bodies of the three teenagers were found, the US Secretary of State

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...

made a statement saying "the news of the murder of these three Israeli teenagers—Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach—is simply devastating. We all had so much hope that this story would not end this way."

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

responded to the deaths by sending his condolences to the families of the teenagers and condemning the "senseless act of terror against innocent youth." * 's

Foreign Minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

John Baird expressed deep concern over the event and urged Palestinian security authorities, "who have been trained through Canadian and US leadership,” to make every effort to ensure the safe return of the children to their families. * After the dead bodies of the three teenagers were found,

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

described their deaths as an "appalling and inexcusable act of terror." * President

François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. He previously was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (PS) from 1997 to 2008, Mayor of Tulle from ...

released a statement saying he was "shocked,” "strongly condemn dthe cowardly murder ” and "extend dhis sincere condolences to their families and to the Israeli people and authorities." He attended that he "express dhis concern in the face of the increased violence in the West Bank and Gaza,” "condemn dthe rocket fire from Gaza into Israeli territory,” and "call dfor everything to be done to prevent any further casualties and the risk of an escalation of violence." * condemned the kidnapping, along with

Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel Since 2001, Palestinian militants have launched thousands of rocket and mortar attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip as part of the continuing Arab–Israeli conflict. The attacks, widely condemned for targeting civilians, have been descri ...

, and called for restraint. * After the dead bodies of the three teenagers were found, Dutch Foreign Minister

Frans Timmermans Frans is an Afrikaans, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish given name, sometimes as a short form of ''François''. One cognate of Frans in English is '' Francis''. Given name * Frans van Aarssens (1572–1641), Dutch diplo ...

issued a statement saying that the Dutch government heard the news of the murder "with profound sadness and horror. These boys were in the prime of their lives and have been the victim of a horrific crime. The government of the Netherlands hopes that their killers will be apprehended soon and brought to justice." * 's ambassador to Israel tweeted that he was "deeply concerned" about the events and was hoping for the safe return of the teens.

Catherine Ashton Catherine Margaret Ashton, Baroness Ashton of Upholland, (born 20 March 1956), is a British Labour politician who served as the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and First Vice President of the Europea ...

office An office is a space where an Organization, organization's employees perform Business administration, administrative Work (human activity), work in order to support and realize objects and Goals, plans, action theory, goals of the organizati ...

condemned the kidnapping after five days, in the wake of Israeli official expressions of disappointment. On 28 June the EU reiterated its call for the safe return of the youths. It regretted the increasing violence, particularly the killing of several Palestinians, and called on Israel to only use proportionate means in its search. It praised the Palestinian security services for their help in searching for the abductees, and condemned Hamas for praising the kidnapping. After the dead bodies of the three teenagers were found, the EU's ambassador to Israel, Lars Faaborg-Andersen, tweeted that he sent condolences to the Israeli government on the "despicable" murders, "with hope that perpetrators are soon arrested." * 's foreign ministry released a statement asking

to stop what it called "its collective punishment of the Palestinian people,” after it bombed dozens of sites in the Gaza Strip a day after the bodies of three missing Israeli teenagers were found. Egypt urged the Israeli forces to practice restraint and allow the Palestinian authorities to take on its responsibility in tracking the culprits, it also renewed its condemnation for all forms of violence that cause the death of civilians on both sides. * 's

Foreign Ministry In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

released a statement condemning the assassination of the 3 teenagers that had previously been kidnapped on 12 June while on the same statement declaring the murder as an act of terrorism. Colombia expressed its condolences to the families of the victims and called to "reflect, and ponder on this difficult moments, in accordance to international rights." * 's President

Goodluck Jonathan Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan (born 20 November 1957)Lawson Heyford, ''The Source'' (Lagos), 11 December 2006. is a Nigerian politician who served as the President of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015. He lost the 2015 presidential election to fo ...

wrote to Netanyahu: .".. I assure you that we are in solidarity with you, as we believe that any act of terrorism against any nation or group is an act against our common humanity. We unequivocally condemn this dastardly act, and demand that the children are released unconditionally by their abductors." * The Vatican condemned the killing of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank as a "hideous and unacceptable crime" and an obstacle to peace, calling the news of the deaths "terrible and dramatic." *

Quartet In music, a quartet or quartette (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers; or a musical composition for four voices and instruments. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations o ...

envoy

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

posted a tweet saying that the abduction and killing of "these three young people was a heinous and wicked thing to do." * Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said that

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, France, Britain,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

all condemned the kidnapping of three Israelis in phone conversations with him.

References

External links

West Bank kidnapping
at ''

''
Memorial project by Yeshivat Mekor Chaim
{{DEFAULTSORT:Israeli teenager murders 2010s missing person cases 2014 in Israel 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict 2014 murders in Asia Deaths by firearm in the West Bank Formerly missing people Hate crimes June 2014 crimes in Asia Kidnapped Israeli people Kidnappings Missing person cases in Israel Murdered Israeli children Palestinian terrorism Terrorist attacks attributed to Palestinian militant groups Terrorism deaths in the West Bank Terrorist incidents in the West Bank in 2014