Israeli Defense Forces discovered three bodies that they believe belong to the three missing Israeli teenagers that the country spent the past two weeks searching for. One of the missing boys was an American.
The New York Times reports that the bodies were found buried near Hebron in the Beit Kahl region. Israeli officials are waiting to inform the families personally before releasing further information.
Gil-Ad Shaer, Naftali Fraenkel and Eyal Yifrah went missing in the Israeli occupied West Bank nearly two weeks ago. Although Israeli officials have yet to release the names of the actual kidnappers, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that Israel believes this is the work of the terrorist organization Hamas.
The Israeli Defense Forces have conducted searches and night raids in the areas near where the boys were last seen. Tens of Palestinians were arrested in the search process.
After announcing the discovery of the boys’ bodies on Monday, the Israeli government called an emergency late-night Cabinet meeting. The Israeli Knesset has canceled all votes and regular proceedings set for Monday evening due to the recent developments.