Hamas, the terrorist organization masquerading as rulers showed its heinous nature in the cold blooded killing of 3 Israeli teenagers who had gone hiking and never came back. The three teenagers were merely civilians and doing an activity that many don’t think about twice. Their killings have made Israel think about about how vulnerable their population is from terrors organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah. Surprisingly, none of these have claimed responsibility for the killing. Israel is now forced to act and play yet again into the eternal crisis that seems to engulf this region. Eyal Yifrah, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Fraenkel, a 16-year-old with dual Israeli-American citizenship, disappeared June 12 while hitchhiking home from the Jewish seminaries where they were studying near the West Bank city of Hebron. Despite the dangers, hitchhiking is common among Israelis traveling in and out of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
Bradenton Herald reports: The Israeli military found the bodies of three missing teenagers on Monday just over two weeks after they were abducted in the West Bank, a grim discovery that ended a frantic search that led to Israel’s largest ground operation in the Palestinian territory in nearly a decade and drew Israeli threats of retaliation.
“Hamas is responsible and Hamas will pay,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed, referring to the Islamic militant group that Israel has accused of carrying out the kidnappings. The teenagers “were kidnapped and murdered in cold blood by human animals,” the Israeli leader said as he convened an emergency meeting of his Security Cabinet.In an operation codenamed “Brother’s Keeper,” Israel dispatched thousands of troops across the West Bank in search of the youths, closed roads in the Hebron area and arrested some 400 Hamas operatives throughout the territory. The search ended Monday afternoon with the discovery of the bodies under a pile of rocks in a field north of Hebron. Israel has identified two well-known Hamas operatives from Hebron as the primary suspects. The men, Marwan Qawasmeh and Amer Abu Aisheh, remain on the run, and military officials said the search for them would continue. The search for the teens became a national obsession.
News of the Israeli teens’ deaths generated condemnations from around the world as well. Pope Francis, shared in the families’ “unspeakable pain,” said the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi. In Washington, President Barack Obama sent his “deepest and heartfelt condolences” to the families. “As a father, I cannot imagine the indescribable pain that the parents of these teenage boys are experiencing,” he said. Yet he urged “all parties” to refrain from steps that could further destabilize the situation. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a similar condemnation of the “heinous crime,” but also urged the sides to “refrain from any actions that could further escalate this highly tense situation.”
Israel’s options may be limited as it contemplates its response. If it does nothing, it gives the signal that more kidnappings and killings of Israeli citizens could be carried out and if it does, there will be no delay in global condemnation. The World is unfortunately ever willing to condemn Israel no matter what it does. They all express sorrow on Israel’s loss of lives but quickly attach Israel must express restraint! As usual Abbas talks and behaves with two opposing tenets; he supposedly condemned the kidnappings but refused to denounce Hamas and other terrorist activities in the area. In a highly volatile atmosphere, such kidnappings and killings cannot be carried out without knowledge of higher ups in terrorist organizations. Israel must and should act swiftly and effectively.
