JERUSALEM (EJP)—Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday that he expected his help in securing the safe return of the three kidnapped Israeli teens, in a telephone conversation.
The phone conversation, the first between the two men in a year, was initiated by Abbas and came two days after Netanyahu held Abbas responsible for the kidnapping last Thursday of three Israeli teenagers, the kidnapping of Naphtali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaer and Eyal Yifrach.
“I expect you to help in returning the youths and capturing the kidnappers,” Netanyahu told Abbas. “The Hamas kidnappers left territory under PA control and after abducting their victims] returned to area under PA control.”
“The repercussions of the partnership with Hamas must be understood. It’s bad for Israel, bad for the Palestinians, and bad for the region,” Netanyahu added.
“This incident reveals the nature of the terrorism we are fighting,” Netanyahu said.
“Terrorists kidnap innocent Israeli children, while we treat in our hospitals sick Palestinian children. That is the difference between our humanitarian policies and the murderous terrorism that attacks us.”
Earlier on Monday, Abbas’office condemned what it dubbed “the chain of events that occurred last week, beginning with the abduction of the three Israeli youths, and ending with the successive Israeli violations.”
The Palestinian communique also blasted Israel for the hunger strike of Palestinian detainees under administrative detention, the IDF search of Palestinian homes in the West Bank and “the assault on many innocents.”
Palestinian security forces, the statement continued, have been working to “safeguard law, quiet and stability and prevent Palestinians from slipping into anarchy and instability, as well as prevent any side from taking advantage of the situation for unpatriotic ends.”
A widespread IDF operation aims to find the Hamas terrorists who kidnapped three Israeli teenagers last Thursday. Israeli forces have arrested 150 Palestinian suspects in connection with the abduction.
IDF soldiers arrested 40 terrorist suspects late Sunday night, including several Hamas operatives connected to the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers last week. So far, IDF forces have detained 150 suspects linked to the abduction.
The IDF arrested the suspects in the Judea and Samaria region, where Hamas terrorists abducted the three teens last Thursday. IDF and Israeli security forces have been conducting a relentless search for the teenagers and their kidnappers for more than three days.
Israeli forces also arrested 80 Palestinian suspects late Saturday night. Hours later, on Sunday morning, the IDF confirmed that Hamas terrorists were responsible for the abduction.
The IDF’s soldiers are working around the clock, on all fronts, to find Gilad Shaar, Eyal Yifrach and Naftali Frenkel – the three Israeli teenagers abducted last Thursday.
During an overnight operation Saturday, IDF forces arrested about 80 Palestinian suspects connected to the terrorist kidnapping. “Palestinian terrorists will not feel safe,” Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner stressed after the operation. “They will not be able to hide and will feel the heavy arm of Israel’s military capabilities.”
The IDF Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, briefed Israeli security officials during an assessment of the search operation Sunday night.
“We are operating wherever needed and our efforts are growing,” Lt. Gen. Gantz stressed. “We remain determined to achieve our operational objectives, and will act with responsibility, poise and determination to accomplish whatever is required of us.”
Israeli forces searched throughout Hebron for signs of the young Israelis. Their operation took them between alleys, on top of houses and through the city’s markets. Israeli forces performed similar operations across the Judea and Samaria (West Bank) region.