GAZA CITY // Any Israeli action to punish Hamas for the alleged murder of three teenagers whose bodies were found on Monday would open “the gates of hell,” the Islamist movement warned.
“If the occupiers carry out an escalation or a war, they will open the gates of hell on themselves,” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said.
The warning came shortly after Israel confirmed finding the bodies of the three students who disappeared while hitchhiking in the southern West Bank on June 12.
Their disappearance has triggered an extensive manhunt during which five Palestinians were killed and more than 400 arrested.
The bodies were found in a field near Halhul some 10 minutes from the roadside spot where they were last seen, media reports said.
Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of kidnapping the teenagers, two of whom were minors, and launched a major crackdown on the movement’s West Bank infrastructure.
Hamas has dismissed the Israeli allegations as “stupid” with Mr Abu Zuhri accusing Israel of fabricating the kidnapping as an excuse to crack down on the Islamist movement.
“The disappearance and murder of the three Israelis is only based on the Israeli narrative, and the occupation is trying to use this story to justify its extensive war against our people, against resistance and against Hamas,” he charged.
The grisly discovery culminated a feverish search that led to Israel’s largest ground operation in the Palestinian territory in nearly a decade.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was huddling with his Security Cabinet late on Monday to discuss a response.
Eyal Yifrah, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Fraenkel, a 16-year-old with dual Israeli-American citizenship, disappeared while hitchhiking home near the West Bank city of Hebron late at night on June 12 and were never heard from again. Despite the dangers, hitchhiking is common among Israelis travelling in and out of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
The Israeli military and the Shin Bet security agency announced late Monday that the bodies had been found. “The bodies are currently going through forensic identification. The families of the abducted teenagers have been notified,” the army said. The Shin Bet said the bodies had been buried in a field near the village of Halhul, just north of Hebron.
Binyamin Proper, who was among the civilian volunteers that found the bodies, told Israeli media that a member of the search party “saw something suspicious on the ground, plants that looked out of place, moved them and moved some rocks and then found the bodies. We realised it was them and we called the army.”
Israel accused Hamas of being behind the abductions and launched a frantic manhunt throughout the West Bank, arresting nearly 400 Hamas operatives in the process. Last week, Israel identified two well-known Hamas operatives as the chief suspects. The two men remained on the run late Monday.
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas condemned the kidnappings, and his forces coordinated closely with Israel during the search for the teenagers. But Mr Netanyahu has called on Mr Abbas to dissolve a unity government recently formed with the backing of Hamas, saying it is impossible to be committed to peace while simultaneously sitting together with a group that kidnaps Israelis. Mr Abbas has so far refused the calls, saying his new government is committed to his political programme. Hamas is not part of his government, but has lent its backing from the outside.
The search for the teenagers captured the nation’s attention. The Israeli media delivered round-the-clock updates on the search, and the mothers of the three teenagers became high-profile figures as they campaigned for their sons’ return. Israelis held daily prayer vigils, including mass gatherings attended by tens of thousands of people at the Western Wall, the holiest prayer site in Judaism, and in a downtown square in Tel Aviv.
Late Monday, dozens of Israeli forces moved into the village of Halhul. There were no further details on the operation.
In Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, “We obviously condemn in the strongest possible terms violence that takes the lives of innocent civilians.”
* Associated Press and Agence France-Presse