- Title: ISRAEL: Mother of dead Jewish teen "distressed" at Palestinian youth killing
- Date: 7th July 2014
- Summary: NOF AYALON, ISRAEL (JULY 7, 2014) (REUTERS) GIRLS OUTSIDE HOUSE OF FRAENKEL FAMILY POSTER, READING (English): "BRING BACK OUR BOYS" VARIOUS OF BOYS READING PARENTS OF NAFTALI FRAENKEL, RACHEL AND AVI FRAENKEL, APPROACHING MEDIA OUTSIDE THEIR HOUSE (SOUNDBITE) (English) MOTHER OF NAFTALI FRAENKEL, RACHEL FRAENKEL, SAYING: "Even in the depth of the mourning of our son, it'
- Embargoed: 22nd July 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Israel
- Country: Israel
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA8YVZWHFN1T8PTF6M7VR9L0EGW
- Story Text: The mother of one of the three Jewish teenagers killed in the occupied West Bank on Monday (July 7) said she was "distressed" at the death of a 16-year-old Palestinian boy in East Jersualem, as tensions in the region continue to rise.
The deaths of the three Jewish teenagers, which Israel has blamed on Hamas, and of Palestinian teenager Mohammed Abu Khudair, have sparked an escalation in hostility between the Jewish state and the Islamist group which dominates the Gaza strip.
Hamas stepped up rocket fire at southern Israeli towns and Israel called up reserve troops on Monday in anticipation of further exchanges between the two sides.
The three Jewish seminary students went missing while hitchhiking on June 12, before being found dead last week.
Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied having any role in their disappearance.
Rachel Fraenkel, the mother of Naftali Fraenkel, who was buried on Tuesday (July 1), said they shared the pain of the Palestinian youngster's parents.
"Even in the depth of the mourning of our son, it's hard for me to describe how distressed we were over the outrage that happened in Jerusalem," she told reporters outside her home in Nof Ayalon.
"The shedding of innocent blood is against morality, against the Torah and Judaism, is against the basis of our life in this country. The murderers of our children - whoever sent them, whoever helped them, whoever incited towards that murder - will all be brought to justice. But it will be them and no innocent people, and it will be done by the government, the police, the justice department, and not the vigilantes," she said.
"No mother or father should go through what we're going now, and we share the pain of the parents of Mohammed Abu Khudair. The legacy of the life and death of Naftali, Ayal and Gil-ad, is a legacy of love, of humanity, of national unity," she added.
Israel on Sunday (July 6) announced it had arrested six Jewish suspects in what police believe was the revenge murder of Abu Khudair, whose charred body was found in Jerusalem on Wednesday (July 2), a day after Fraenkel and Gil-Ad Shaer, both 16, and Eyal Yifrah, 19, were buried.
"We truly hope that very soon the peace and calm will come back all over our country," Fraenkel said.
Abu Khudair's death touched off clashes between police and stone-throwing Arab protesters in East Jerusalem and in several Arab villages in northern and southern Israel. Police said they arrested 30 people during violence on Sunday night (July 6).
The armed wing of Hamas said it fired dozens of rockets within about an hour on Monday, after hundreds since mid-June.
Israel said more than 40 rockets were launched as militants' funerals were held in Gaza.
Thirty struck inside Israel and the rest were shot down by rocket interceptors, the army said.
Hamas has vowed revenge for what it saw as Israel's deadliest attacks in which six Palestinian militants died, though Israel denied any involvement.
The Gaza flare-up began in mid-June, during Israel's search for the three teens, when Israel arrested many Hamas members across the West Bank. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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