Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to take even tougher actions against Hamas, following an intense wave of airstrikes in Gaza Strip. This follows the burial of three Israeli teens, who Israel says were kidnapped and killed by the Islamic militant group.
Netanyahu said his first goal is to find the killers of the teens. But a broader mission is to act against Hamas in its Gaza stronghold. The deaths of 19-year-old Eyal Yifrah, Gilad Shaar and Naftali Fraenkel, both 16, have sparked public anger. In Jerusalem, several hundred right-wing Israeli youths marched down a main road, demanding revenge. The disappearances of the three teenagers prompted the Israeli army to launch its largest ground operation in the West Bank in nearly a decade, dispatching thousands of troops to search for them and arresting nearly 400 Hamas operatives. Israel has identified two Hamas operatives as the chief suspects in the kidnappings. But it has offered little public evidence against the men, who remain on the loose.
Netanyahu said, "First, we must get the murderers and all those who participated in the kidnapping. Whoever was involved in the kidnapping and the murder will bear the consequences. We will neither rest nor slow down until we get the last of them and it does not matter where they try to hide."