Israel's air force reportedly launched strikes on dozens of targets in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, this is coming hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that “Hamas will pay” for the murders of three Israeli teens.
The bodies of the youths identified as Eyal Yifrah, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Fraenkel, a 16-year-old with dual Israeli-American citizenship, were found Monday just north of Hebron in the West Bank, and led to outpourings of grief and rage in the Jewish State, after they disappeared on June 12 while hitchhiking home.
According to Israeli information, two well-known Hamas operatives from Hebron, Amer Abu Aisheh, 33, a locksmith, and Marwan Qawasmeh, 29, a barber, are the primary suspects.
It was gathered that the suspects have not been seen since the teens disappeared, and military officials said the search for them would continue.
Israeli soldiers blew up a door of Abu Aisheh's home in Hebron early Tuesday, causing damage to the home, but did not destroy the rest of the house, said an Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to protocol. He did not elaborate. Flames were seen after the blast.
Reacting to the incident, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu was quoted as saying at a hastily arranged security cabinet meeting Monday. "(The teens) were kidnapped and murdered in cold blood by animals,"
He continued..."In the name of the whole of Israel, I ask to tell the dear families - to the mothers, the fathers, the grandmothers and the grandfathers, the brothers and sisters - our hearts are bleeding, the whole nation is crying with them."