Palestinians will pay the price for senseless crime

Nobody knows who murdered three Israeli teens, but innocent Palestinians are being punished for the crime.

The murder of three Israeli teenagers, whose bodies were found in a field on Monday near the southern West Bank city of ­Halhul, was a cruel and senseless act that cannot be excused under any circumstances. The National joins those who have condemned this crime in the strongest possible terms, and we extend our sincere condolences to the families and friends of the three young men, Eyal Yifrah, Gilad Shaar and Naftali Fraenkel.

We also deeply regret the many deaths that will inevitably follow as tensions between the Israeli government and Hamas escalate. The first Palestinian civilian death – that of a youth who was accused of throwing rocks at soldiers – occurred just days after the teenagers went missing while hitchhiking on June 12. Now, as well as trading missile fire with Hamas, the Israeli Defence Forces have begun to strike back.

As The National noted two weeks ago, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu used the situation as an excuse to launch what is effectively a campaign of collective punishment against Palestinians. Hamas, with its characteristic ineptitude, called the kidnappers "heroes" while denying it had any involvement. Israeli right-wingers responded by demanding the execution of one Palestinian an hour until the teenagers were returned.

Mr Netanyahu is likely to seize upon the justified outrage over the teenagers’ deaths to push the false narrative that Israel is the sole victim in this situation despite its continued belligerence and the unfettered growth of illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian soil.

He will continue to launch military strikes on the West Bank, with inevitable civilian casualties, and forcefully pursue his political argument that there can be no peace nor an independent Palestinian state because of the actions of Hamas.

Mr Netanyahu has already urged Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas to tear up the unity government agreement with Hamas – a move that would suit Israel’s agenda, even though international observers have seen it as a positive step towards Palestinian statehood.

In the meantime, as tensions spill into violence on both sides, it is ordinary Palestinians who will suffer most.