Israel: Abbas responsible for teens' safety

The three missing Israeli teens. www.algemeiner.com

AFP: Jerusalem - Three Israeli teenagers went missing in the West Bank, the army said on Friday, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying he held the Palestinian leadership responsible for their safety.

"The IDF (Israeli military) confirms three teenagers are currently missing," an army statement said.

"The individuals were last seen late last night in the area of Gush Etzion," it said, referring to the main settlement bloc in the southern West Bank.

The army gave no further details and refused to say whether the three had been kidnapped.

"We do not give details that could hamper the investigation," a spokesperson said, adding only that a "large scale" search was under way.

Israeli media speculated the three may have been kidnapped by Palestinians. One has US citizenship, and the American embassy has been informed, public radio said.

Furious response

Netanyahu's office said it held the Palestinian leadership responsible for their disappearance.

"Israel holds the Palestinian Authority responsible for the wellbeing of the three missing Israeli teens," representative Ofir Gendelman wrote on Twitter.

The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed branch of the Islamist Hamas movement which until 2 June governed the Gaza Strip, issued a statement warning that "the occupier will never have security" but did not refer specifically to the missing teens.

Netanyahu's bureau said he had spoken by telephone to US Secretary of State John Kerry, telling him he held Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas responsible for the fate of the three.

Last week, a new Palestinian unity government of independents backed by Hamas was sworn in, prompting a furious response from Netanyahu's government. Hamas's charter calls for the destruction of Israel...Continue reading....                                     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhaKNAduvUI