Vowing that "Hamas will pay," Israel stepped up airstrikes on Gaza following the deaths of three teenagers that Israeli authorities blame on the militant group.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the students had been "murdered in cold blood" by people he described as "animals."
Hamas, the militant Islamic organization that controls Gaza, denied it was behind the abductions.
If Netanyahu "brings a war on Gaza," the group warned, "the gates of hell will open to him."
The three Israeli teenagers disappeared 19 days ago while trying to hitchhike home from the southern West Bank.
On Monday afternoon, volunteers from a nearby Israeli settlement discovered their bodies in an open field not far from Hebron, a southern West Bank city.
The teens' disappearance had already damaged relations between Israel and the Palestinians. Their deaths threaten to make the situation even worse.
No comments:
Post a Comment