2014 kidnapping and murders of Israeli teenagers

On 12 June 2014, three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped at the bus/ hitchhiking stop at the Israeli settlement of Alon Shvut in Gush Etzion , in the West Bank , as they were hitchhiking to their homes. The three teens were Naftali Frenkel (16, from Nof Ayalon ), Gilad Shaer (16, from Talmon ), and Eyal Yifrah (19, from Elad ). Gilad Shaer called a police emergency hotline to report the kidnapping. The emergency call recording, initially under a gag order , 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. IDF's Nahal Brigade conducting a search in the Hebron area The Israel Defense Forces initiated Operation Brother's Keeper ( , 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 ' West Bank leaders. Five Palestinians were killed during the military operation. On 15 June, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the teens had been kidnapped by Hamas, which Hamas denied. Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas maintained that as of 22 June there was no evidence that Hamas was behind the kidnapping. On 25 July, BBC 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". 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 . Qawasmeh's lawyer stated "What he said during interrogation was that he was responsible for ordering the kidnapping", and that "[t]he orders came from him personally." On 26 June, the Israel Security Agency 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 . They had apparently been shot dead shortly after the abduction. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed a tough response to the killings. On 20 August 2014, a Hamas 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 , 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. The Israeli Defense establishment thinks that Arouri is unconnected with the kidnapping, and was boasting. Hamas leader Khaled Mashal 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. Goldberg , 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 Hebron 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. Benny Gantz 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. Harel, Amos & Yaniv Kubovich, "Revealed: Behind the scenes on the hunt to find kidnapped teens" , Haaretz , 1 July 2014. Jonathan Freedland , Liberal Zionism After Gaza" , New York Review of Books , 26 July 2014; "Few of these campaigners knew that the Israeli authorities had, in fact, established from the start that the boys were dead and apparently withheld that information from the public." "IDF Seizes Hundreds of Weapons in Nablus, as Operation 'Brother's Keeper' Enters 5th Day" . The Times of Israel . "Hamas kidnapping: Islamist group to blame for youths' 'kidnapping', Benjamin Netanyahu says" . "Hamas not complicit in teens’ kidnap: Israeli police" , The Daily Star , 26 July 2014; "Israeli police spokes Mickey Rosenfeld also said if kidnapping had been ordered by Hamas leadership, they'd have known about it in advance." Katie Zavadski, "It Turns Out Hamas May Not Have Kidnapped and Killed the 3 Israeli Teens After All" , New York Magazine , 25 July 2014. Peter Walker, Tom McCarthy "Gaza crisis: Kerry says ceasefire deal remains out of reach" , The Guardian , 25 July 2014; [5:45 pm]: "'Israeli police MickeyRosenfeld tells me men who killed 3 Israeli teens def lone cell, hamas affiliated but not operating under leadership", Donnison tweets' Sheera Frenkel , "Who Was Behind The Kidnapping Of Three Israeli Teens, And Why Are They So Hard To Find?" , Buzzfeed, 15 Jun 2014; "The kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers was likely carried out by a small group of militants with no direct orders from Hamas, ISIS, or any other regional terror group, said senior Israeli and Palestinian officials Sunday ... Those attacks, they added, were harder to defend against as there was often no intelligence warning leading up to the attack. The men behind this may have ties to a larger terror group, but this does not have the markings of a well-planned, complex operation.".' Batya Ungar-Sargon, "Did Israel Say Hamas Didn’t Kidnap Its Teens? "Gantz: Operation Brothers Keeper has come to an end" , The Jerusalem Post , 23 September 2014.

Kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank 31°39′17″N 35°07′20″E  /  31.6547°N 35.1223°E  / 31.6547; 35.1223 The 2014 Gush Etzion kidnapping and murder refers to the abduction and killing of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank during June 2014. The victims, Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaer, and Naftali Fraenkel, were Israeli students aged 16 and 19. On the evening of 12 June 2014, the three teenagers were hitchhiking in the Alon Shvut settlement in Gush Etzion , in the West Bank when they were abducted. The Israel Defense Forces immediately initiated Operation Brother's Keeper ( ) in search of the three teenagers. On 30 June, their bodies were found in a shallow grave near the town of Halhul . Israeli authorities accused two members of the Palestinian militant group Hamas , Marwan Qawasmeh and Amer Abu Aisha, of carrying out the abduction and murder. As part of the operation, Israel arrested around 350 Palestinians, including nearly all of Hamas' West Bank leaders. The suspects were killed during a standoff with Israeli security forces on 23 September 2014, leading to the end of the operation. The incident gained significant international attention and escalated tensions between Israelis and Palestinians, leading to an increase in violence and retaliatory actions and eventually triggering the 2014 Gaza War .

Kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank 31°39′17″N 35°07′20″E  /  31.6547°N 35.1223°E  / 31.6547; 35.1223 The 2014 Gush Etzion kidnapping and murder refers to the abduction and killing of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank during June 2014. The victims, Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaer, and Naftali Fraenkel, were Israeli students aged 16 and 19. On the evening of 12 June 2014, the three teenagers were hitchhiking in the Alon Shvut settlement in Gush Etzion , in the West Bank when they were abducted. The Israel Defense Forces immediately initiated Operation Brother's Keeper ( Hebrew : מבצע שובו אחים , romanized : Mivtza Shuvu Ahim ) in search of the three teenagers. On 30 June, their bodies were found in a shallow grave near the town of Halhul . Israeli authorities accused two members of the Palestinian militant group Hamas , Marwan Qawasmeh and Amer Abu Aisha, of carrying out the abduction and murder. As part of the operation, Israel arrested around 350 Palestinians, including nearly all of Hamas' West Bank leaders. The suspects were killed during a standoff with Israeli security forces on 23 September 2014, leading to the end of the operation. The incident gained significant international attention and escalated tensions between Israelis and Palestinians, leading to an increase in violence and retaliatory actions and eventually triggering the 2014 Gaza War .

Palestinian attack on three Israeli teenagers 31°39′17″N 35°07′20″E  /  31.6547°N 35.1223°E  / 31.6547; 35.1223 The 2014 Gush Etzion kidnapping and murder refers to the abduction and killing of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank during June 2014. The victims, Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaer, and Naftali Fraenkel, were Israeli students aged 16 and 19. On the evening of 12 June 2014, the three teenagers were hitchhiking in the Alon Shvut settlement in Gush Etzion , in the West Bank when they were abducted. The Israel Defense Forces immediately initiated Operation Brother's Keeper ( Hebrew : מבצע שובו אחים , romanized : Mivtza Shuvu Ahim ) in search of the three teenagers. On 30 June, their bodies were found in a shallow grave near the town of Halhul . Israeli authorities accused two members of the Palestinian militant group Hamas , Marwan Qawasmeh and Amer Abu Aisha, of carrying out the abduction and murder. As part of the operation, Israel arrested around 350 Palestinians, including nearly all of Hamas' West Bank leaders. The suspects were killed during a standoff with Israeli security forces on 23 September 2014, leading to the end of the operation. The incident gained significant international attention and escalated tensions between Israelis and Palestinians, leading to an increase in violence and retaliatory actions and eventually triggering the 2014 Gaza War .