ISRAEL: Israel on Tuesday vowed to hunt down the Hamas militants who kidnapped and killed three teenagers, but was likely to carefully weigh its response to avoid triggering a regional flare-up.
As further details emerged about the fate of the three youngsters whose bodies were found in the southern West Bank on Monday evening, Israel said it would not rest until it finds those behind their kidnap and murder.
But despite extensive Israeli air strikes on Gaza overnight, no one was killed, with Israel's military establishment and cabinet heavyweights backing a more moderate response over isolated calls for a major operation in the strip.
The disappearance of two 16-year-olds and a 19-year-old from a roadside in the southern West Bank on June 12 and the hunt for their kidnappers had gripped the Israeli public, triggering an outpouring of public grief and anger.
The discovery of their bodies was given blanket coverage across all media outlets. "The bitter end" read the headline in Yediot Aharonot, while the pro-government Israel Hayom led on: "Cut down in their youth".
Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon vowed the deaths would not go unavenged.
"Hamas is responsible for the kidnapping and murder of the youths and we know how to settle accounts with them," Yaalon said on Tuesday.
"We will continue to hunt the killers of the youngsters, we will not rest nor will we be silent until we lay our hands on them."
Israeli warplanes during the night pounded Gaza, hitting 34 targets across the enclave, the military said. Palestinian medics told AFP four people were wounded in the southern city of Khan Yunis, describing their condition as moderate to serious.
"They were kidnapped and murdered in cold blood by human animals," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told ministers at the start of an emergency security cabinet meeting on Monday evening.
"Hamas is responsible and Hamas will pay."
But the three-hour meeting ended inconclusively, with ministers sharply at odds over the right course of action, army radio's diplomatic correspondent reported.
An Israeli official familiar with the content of the meeting confirmed reports that Yaalon suggested a "measured" response which would not lead to an escalation with Gaza, and Netanyahu was inclined to accept his position.
The security cabinet did not vote on Yaalon's proposal and was expected to reconvene on Tuesday evening.
Hamas has warned that Israel would "open the gates of hell" if it carried out any reprisal operations against the movement, whose power base is in Gaza.
The three young students were reportedly shot dead shortly after they were picked up while hitchhiking on a road in the southern West Bank, with their bodies dumped in a field near the town of Halhul, some 10 minutes from where they were last seen, press reports said.
One of the civilian volunteers said the bodies had been found under a pile of branches and stones.
"It was a very isolated area, more or less at the end of the world," Benny Truper told army radio.
It was not immediately clear when the funerals would be held.
Gilad Shaer, 16, was from Talmon settlement near Ramallah; Naftali Frenkel, 16, was from Nof Ayalon, and Eyal Ifrach, 19, from Elad - both of which are in central Israel.
Two Hebron Hamas men named by Israel as prime suspects - Marwan Qawasmeh and Amer Abu Eishe - remain at large but Palestinian witnesses said troops blew up their homes early Tuesday.
In the hours after the teens disappearance, Israel began a vast search and arrest operation which saw 419 Palestinians arrested, of which 276 are Hamas members. Another five Palestinians were killed in clashes triggered by the search campaign.
Simultaneously, militants in Gaza began firing a wave of rockets at southern Israel which has since escalated, prompting Israel to stage dozens of air strikes.
Overnight, eight rockets hit the south, the army said, causing no injuries or damage.
In the northern West Bank city of Jenin, troops shot dead a Palestinian early Tuesday during a raid into the refugee camp, Palestinian security and medical officials said, naming the youth as 18-year-old Yusuf Abu Zagher.
An army spokeswoman said he was a Hamas operative about to hurl an explosive device at troops sent to arrest him.
US President Barack Obama condemned the killings of the three teenagers but warned against actions that could further "destabilise" the situation.
British Prime Minister David Cameron condemned the murders as an "inexcusable act of terror" while Pope Francis, who visited Israel and the West Bank last month, called it "an abominable crime".
COMMENTS (5)
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It is dreadful that three young men were killed by unknown people, but was penny-ante stuff compared to routine bombing and strafing of Gaza by Israel.
Israel already killed 5 people already over this. Arrested dozens. Last month 3 Palestinian teenagers were killed by Israel. No one highlights how many Israel kills.
The Israelis really care about their people. They spare no effort.