16 de junho de 2014 3h04
Israel expands search for teenagers
Naftali Frankel's mother Racheli says she is praying for her son's return Israeli troops searching for three Israeli teenagers missing in the West Bank have clashed with Palestinians, detaining scores for questioning. The army says 150 Palestinians, including leading Hamas members, have so far been arrested. Palestinian medics say a 19-year-old was shot dead during clashes near Ramallah, which erupted after soldier conducted house-to-house searches. Israel has accused Hamas of kidnapping the teens, though Hamas denies this. "Those who carried out the kidnapping of our youngsters are Hamas people,"
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri called Mr Netanyahu's statements "silly" and said the arrests were "aimed at breaking the will of the Hamas movement in the West Bank".
Palestinian parliament Speaker Aziz Dweik, who is a member of Hamas, was among those arrested overnight.
The students, one of whom also holds a US passport, went missing on Thursday near an Israeli settlement in the West Bank on their way back from lessons. Israel says an "intensive operation" is under way to find the two 16-year-olds - Naftali Frenkel, Gilad Shaar - and 19-year-old Eyal Yifrach. Palestinian officials have said they are co-operating with the search. As part of the operation, Israeli soldiers searched houses in Jalazoun refugee camp on the outskirts of Ramallah on Sunday night. Palestinian medical officials said Ahmad Arafat died after being shot in the chest during clashes that followed the searches. They said it was unclear whether the Israelis had been trying to arrest the young man. Palestinian security sources told the AFP news agency that he had been released from prison one week ago. Israeli soldiers conducted house-to-house searches in refugee camps as part of their operation
Thousands of men and women gathered at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Sunday to pray for the teenagers The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said: "Palestinians hurled rocks at security forces who responded with live fire. Scans of the area revealed ammunition and weaponry. Regarding the reports of a Palestinian killed we are still looking into them." The teenagers' disappearance is seen as the biggest strain on relations between the two sides since a Palestinian unity government was announced earlier this year. Mr Netanyahu called off peace talks with President Mahmoud Abbas in April, saying the Palestinian leader had to choose between peace and a pact with Hamas. Early on Monday, the Israeli army confirmed it had conducted air strikes in Gaza that had "targeted a terror activity site and three weapon storage and manufacturing facilities". Doctors in Gaza said two Palestinians were injured in the strikes. The strikes came hours after two rockets were fired from Gaza into southern Israel, both of which were intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome defence system. BBC © 2014
