ISRAEL: Hundreds of Israelis rally in support of missing teenagers

Record ID: 214716

  • Title: ISRAEL: Hundreds of Israelis rally in support of missing teenagers
  • Date: 29th June 2014
  • Summary: EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3 TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (JUNE 29, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE SELLING T-SHIRTS WITH PICTURES OF THREE MISSING ISRAELI TEENAGERS VARIOUS OF PEOPLE HUGGING PEOPLE GATHERING DURING RALLY (SOUNDBITE) (English) AUNT OF NAFTALI FRENKEL, ONE OF THE OF THREE MISSING TEENAGERS, ITAEL FRENKEL, SAYING: "I'm here with so many from the c
  • Embargoed: 14th July 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA75CTH7FP5KA0GK6FO085N68NK
  • Story Text: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday (June 29) that Israel would not "spare any effort" to secure the release of three missing Israeli teenagers, while hundreds attended a rally calling for their release.
    Hundreds of Israelis gathered in Rabin Square in the coastal city of Tel Aviv, in an event attended by the parents and families of the trio.
    "I'm here with so many from the country, to be together with the families of Naftali, Eyal and Gilad, and to call out that everybody in the world should do anything they can to help bring the boys back fast," Itael Frenkel, a relative of Naftali said.
    Israel on Thursday (June 26) named two Hamas Islamists as leading suspects in the June 12 kidnappings of the three teenagers, in the most concrete report yet of results after weeks of searches in the occupied West Bank.
    An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed reports that troops were seeking Marwan Kawasme and Amar Abu Aysha, militants in their 30s from the Hebron area of the occupied West Bank, both of whom have served time in Israeli prisons in the past.
    Israel's Shin Bet Security Agency said in a statement both men had been wanted and at large since the kidnappings, adding that several other Palestinians suspected of involvement in the abductions were being questioned.
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the suspects were only part of the group behind the kidnappings and reiterated his call on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to abrogate a unity pact with Hamas, a group that holds power in the Gaza Strip and calls for Israel's destruction.
    "Not far from here, a rally in support of the kidnapped teenagers is being held - for Eyal, Gilad and Naftali. I met with the army chief of staff, head of intelligence and the minister of justice and I told them not to spare any effort to bring the boys home," Netanyahu told Tel Aviv University's INSS think-tank.
    Israeli authorities have been searching for over two weeks for the youths aged 16 and 19, one of whom is a dual U.S.-Israeli national, who disappeared near a Jewish seminary at a West Bank settlement.
    Israel scaled back its searches for the youths after arresting several hundred Palestinians in house-to-house raids throughout the West Bank which led Palestinians and some rights groups to accuse it of imposing collective punishment on civilians.
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