Israeli special forces kill Palestinian suspects in murder of three teenagers

Two Palestinians suspected over the abduction and murders of three Israeli teenagers have been killed by Israeli special forces who stormed a West Bank hideout.

The deaths of the two suspects, identified by the Israeli military as well-known Hamas militants, ended one of the largest manhunts conducted by the Israeli security forces.

Eyal Yifrah, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Fraenkel, a 16-year-old with dual Israeli-American citizenship, were abducted on June 12 while hitch-hiking home in the West Bank and killed soon afterwards.

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The incident prompted a large Israeli crackdown on Hamas group and set off a chain of events which led to a 50-day war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

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 hundreds of Hamas operatives throughout the territory.

The search ended on July 1 when the bodies were found under a pile of rocks in a field north of Hebron.

Israeli forces had been pursuing the suspects, Amer Abu Aisheh and Marwan Qawasmeh, since the abductions, said Israeli army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner.