Netanyahu condemns ‘despicable murder’, urges authorities to expedite investigations
The Palestinian leadership said on Wednesday it held Israel responsible for the murder of an east Jerusalem teenager in a suspected revenge attack for the killing of three Israelis.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in a statement demanded that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin condemn the murder and that Israel “take concrete steps on the ground to stop (revenge) attacks and the chaos caused by the Israeli escalation”.
Presidential spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeina in a separate statement heaped blame on the Israeli authorities.
“Israel is fully responsible for the killing of the teenager and we demand that the perpetrators are found and held accountable,” he said
Shortly after the Palestinian comments, Netanyahu issued a statement condemning the “despicable murder” and urging the authorities to expedite investigations.
Israeli Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch confirmed there was a link between the missing youth and the body found in a forest in west Jerusalem, the Walla news website reported.
In a conversation with Aharonovitch, Netanyahu asked that the investigating authorities “work as quickly as possible to find out who was being the heinous murder of the youth and what is the background to the incident.”
Netanyahu also “called on all sides not to take the law into their own hands” as fears grew that the killing was an act of revenge for the murder by Palestinian militants of three Israeli teenagers, whose bodies were found on Monday.
The killing sparked a wave of clashes in east Jerusalem where around 200 angry young Palestinians threw stones at police, who responded with sound bombs and rubber bullets, an AFP correspondent and police said.
Quoting witnesses, the radio said the youth was seen being forced into a car in the Arab eastern half of the city.
A body was found shortly afterwards in another part of the city, the radio said, describing it as a “suspected revenge attack” for the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers from the southern West Bank on June 12.
Israel has blamed Hamas for their murders in an incident which has shocked the nation and triggered calls for revenge.
Several hours after they were buried on Tuesday, around 200 Israelis rampaged through Jerusalem, stopping cars and the light rail and shouting “Death to Arabs,” police and witnesses said. Police said 47 people were arrested.
