Hamas in ‘gates of hell’ warning to Israel

After the Israeli military discovered the bodies of the three missing youths, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed: “Hamas is responsible and Hamas will pay.”

But Hamas’s Gaza spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, warned Israel against any broad offensive. Gaza militants possess thousands of rockets and would almost certainly unleash heavy barrages at Israel if it attacks.

He said: “Netanyahu should know that threats don’t scare Hamas, and if he wages a war on Gaza, the gates of hell will open on him.”

Mr Netanyahu said the teenagers “were kidnapped and murdered in cold blood by human animals”, as he convened an emergency meeting of his security cabinet.

The episode has put Mr Netanyahu in a difficult position. With a public enraged over the deaths, the Israeli leader has widespread support to strike Hamas, but after a two-week crackdown against the group, he could have a tough time finding new targets. He is also facing international calls for restraint.

Eyal Yifrah, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Fraenkel, a 16-year-old with dual Israeli-American citizenship, disappeared on June 12 while hitchhiking home from the Jewish seminaries where they were studying near the West Bank city of Hebron.

In an operation codenamed Brother’s Keeper, Israel dispatched thousands of troops across the West Bank to search for the youths, closed roads in the area and arrested 400 Hamas operatives throughout the territory. The search ended on 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.

News of the three teenagers’ deaths prompted an outpouring of grief. Large crowds of supporters rushed to the homes of the families in the central Israeli towns of Nof Ayalon and Elad, and the West Bank settlement of Talmon, while supporters lit memorial candles and prayed.

Large crowds gathered in Tel Aviv’s central Rabin Square, and at the West Bank junction where the youths were abducted, singing songs, praying and lighting candles shaped in the names of the youths or the Star of 
David.

“All of Israel bows its head 
today,” said president Shimon Peres.

Beyond identifying the suspected kidnappers, Israel has not publicly provided evidence proving the involvement of Hamas, which has praised the kidnappings but not claimed them. It is also not clear whether the kidnappers received orders 
from higher up or acted on their own.

Britain is ready to do “everything possible” to help hold the killers of three Israeli teenagers to account, Middle East Minister Hugh Robertson said.

The Israeli government must also ensure any actions it takes are “precisely targeted to find the perpetrators” and avoid a “more general escalation”, the Government front-bencher added.

In Washington, president Barack Obama sent his “deepest and heartfelt condolences” to the families.

Israel’s military said a Palestinian was shot dead when he threw a grenade at forces carrying out an arrest raid hours after the discovery of the bodies. The military also struck 34 targets across the Gaza Strip overnight on Monday after more than 20 rockets were fired from the territory into Israel.