Abducted Israeli teens found dead in West Bank

The Los Angeles Jewish community holds a candlelight vigil at Pan Pacific Park for the three teenagers who were kidnapped in Israel. Photo: Brian Cahn/ZUMA24.com

The three teen Israeli boys abducted almost three weeks ago have been found dead in the West Bank, prompting Israel on Monday to vow retribution against Hamas.
The families of Eyal Yifrah, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Fraenkel, 16, have been given the grim news, according to Israeli broadcast reports.
Their remains were reportedly found in Halhul, in an open field just a 15-minute drive from where they went missing in Hebron. Jerusalem immediately blamed Hamas for the kidnapping, though the terror group has yet to claim credit.
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Eyal Yifrah (from left), 19, Naftali Fraenkel, 16, and Gilad Shaar, 16Photo: AFP/Getty Images

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement: “Hamas is responsible, and Hamas will pay.”
“[The teenagers] were kidnapped and murdered in cold blood by wild beasts,” Netanyahu said.

Israeli soldiers patrol the West Bank city of Hebron in search of the missing teens.Photo: EPA

The three students went missing on June 12 while hitchhiking home from school and were probably killed a short time later, officials said.
“I was filled with deep sadness upon hearing of the murders of Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaar, and Eyal Yifrah by Hamas terrorists,” Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon said. “Israelis have the willingness and the fortitude necessary to endure the hardships of a long-lasting operation aimed at eradicating Hamas. We will not stop until Hamas is completely defeated.”
Israeli army personnel — deployed in the search dubbed “Operation Brother’s Keeper” — discovered the bodies, and triggered a military buildup and closure of Halhul in anticipation of potential violence.
Fraenkel’s grandparents moved to Israel from Flatbush, Brooklyn, in 1956. But the teen still has many relatives in Brooklyn and upstate, loved ones said.
“I am heartsick over the news from Israel,” Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) said.

An Israeli rally in Tel Aviv calling for the release of the teens on June 29Photo: AFP/Getty Images

“These three boys — innocent in every way — united us. They brought us together in prayer and the common purpose of self-determination. Of demonstrating our humanitarianism in a world too often besieged with the inhumane. Today we stand with our heads hung low, but not in shame.”
World outrage over the boys’ disappearance sparked the Twitter campaign #BringBackOurBoys, which mirrors the #BringbackOurGirls effort aimed at rescuing schoolgirls kidnapped in Nigeria.
Israel’s security cabinet called an emergency meeting on Monday night in reaction to the sad discovery.