Israel's military has arrested 80 Palestinians as part of a major operation to find three missing teenagers, one of whom is an American citizen, in the West Bank.
http://ift.tt/1m1lLds reported that members of the militant group Hamas were among those arrested.
'Palestinian terrorists will not feel safe, will not be able to hide and will feel the heavy arm of the Israeli military capabilities,' said Lt. Col. Peter Lerner a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces. Sky News reported that helicopters and drones as well as troops have been deployed across the West Bank in the effort to find the missing trio.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds the Western-backed Palestinian Authority responsible for the Thursday night disappearance of the teens, saying Saturday 'Our teenagers were kidnapped by a terror organization with all certainty; there is no doubt about it.'
The Palestinians' self-rule government, which administers 38 percent of the West Bank, has rejected blame, saying the teens vanished in territory under full Israeli control.
The teens have been identified as Eyal Yifrah, 19, Gil-Ad Sha'ar, 16, and Naftali Frenkel, also 16. It is not clear which of the teens is the American. The three are students at a religious school in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank. The three were last seen hitchhiking home from evening lessons outside the settlement of Gush Etzion, which is near Bethlehem and north of Hebron.
Israeli-Palestinian tensions were already strained, in part because of the recent formation of a Palestinian unity government that has the backing of Hamas. However, Sky News reports that despite the sniping between Netanyahu and the Palestinian Authority, British diplomats have been informed that the two sides are working together to establish the teens' whereabouts.
Hamas, branded a terror group by the West for its long history of attacks on Israeli civilians, has been involved in the kidnapping of Israelis in the past.
The group routinely claims responsibility for such attacks, but has not claimed it captured the teens.
Palestinians have kidnapped Israelis before, but this would be the first time three civilians have been taken at the same time.
The Israeli military also said its aircraft struck several targets in Gaza overnight in retaliation for Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel. Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Kidra said a girl was slightly wounded
http://ift.tt/1m1lLds contributed to this report. Click for more from Sky News Entities 0 Name: West Bank Count: 4 1 Name: Hamas Count: 3 2 Name: Israeli Count: 2 3 Name: Palestinian Authority Count: 2 4 Name: Palestinian Count: 2 5 Name: Associated Press Count: 2 6 Name: Israel Count: 2 7 Name: Gush Etzion Count: 1 8 Name: Gaza Count: 1 9 Name: Eyal Yifrah Count: 1 10 Name: Israel Defense Forces Count: 1 11 Name: Netanyahu Count: 1 12 Name: Israeli-Palestinian Count: 1 13 Name: Peter Lerner Count: 1 14 Name: Sky News Count: 1 15 Name: Naftali Frenkel Count: 1 16 Name: Ashraf al-Kidra Count: 1 17 Name: American Count: 1 18 Name: Gaza Health Ministry Count: 1 19 Name: Benjamin Netanyahu Count: 1 20 Name: Hebron Count: 1 21 Name: Bethlehem Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1vipfw2 Title: Israeli prime minister: Terror group took three missing teenagers Description: JERUSALEM - A terror group abducted three teens, including an American, who disappeared in the West Bank, Israel's prime minister said Saturday, as soldiers searched the territory to find them. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again blamed the Palestinian Authority for the Thursday night disappearance of the teens.
