Free Republic

Despite the countless messages of condolence issued by leaders across the Western world, the international community would show little understanding if Israel were to launch a wide-scale military operation against Palestinian targets or expand settlements in response to the killing of the three Israeli teenagers, a senior diplomatic official warned Tuesday. “We had some legitimacy to carry out Operation Brothers Keeper, including massive arrests of Hamas members,” the official told The Times of Israel, referring to the IDF’s efforts to locate Eyal Yifrach, Gil-ad Shaar and Naftali Fraenkel, who were snatched from a hitchhiking post south of Jerusalem and killed...

The bodies of three murdered Israeli teenagers, 16-year-old Naftali who liked to play basketball, 16-year-old Gilad who had just finished a scuba diving course and 19-year-old Eyal with his guitar, will be met by the same ghastly parade of pallbearers who accompany every victim of terrorism.

WASHINGTON — As news of the murders of Israeli teenagers Gil-ad Shaar, Naftali Frankel and Eyal Yifrach reached Washington in the early afternoon Monday, lawmakers voiced unequivocal condemnation of the killings, while two members of Congress, on a visit to Jerusalem, issued a bipartisan call for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to dissolve the unity agreement with Hamas “The news of the murder of these three Israeli teenagers — Naftali Fraenkel, Gil-ad Shaar, and Eyal Yifrach — is simply devastating. We all had so much hope that this story would not end this way,” Secretary John Kerry wrote in a...

While Naftali Bennett urges major operation against Hamas, Moshe Ya’alon warns it would trigger all-out war Government ministers argued bitterly Monday night about Israel’s proper response to the killing of three abducted teenagers whose bodies had been found that afternoon. While right-wing cabinet members called for an immediate and extensive operation to punish Hamas and severely damage the organization’s capabilities, as well as expanding settlement construction, others, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, did not want to rush to action and seemed to prefer a more measured response After three hours, the cabinet session ended without conclusions. Another session was scheduled...

The key Hamas leadership is in the Strip but an escalation there, in response to the killing of the three teens, would bring dozens of missiles down on Tel Aviv The options facing Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas on the day after the discovery of the bodies of the three kidnapped Israeli teenagers range from bad to worse. In the course of the late night cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on Monday, all kinds of ideas for the appropriate Israeli response were aired. The demolition of houses, the deportation of prisoners, an assault on Gaza, and more besides. But the...

President Shimon Peres said the Israeli security crackdown will persist in its efforts to combat terror. “Alongside the heavy mourning, we will remain determined to punish the villainous terrorists with a firm hand,” he said. “Our war on terror will only grow, and will not be weakened, such that this murderous terror will not dare raise its head.” The president also offered his deepest condolences to the families and praised them for “devotedly raising their children.” “The kidnapping and murder of innocent youths in the dead of the night is a heinous and unforgivable crime,” opposition leader and Labor Party...

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's prime minister says the Hamas militant group will pay a heavy price for the deaths of three Israeli teenagers who were kidnapped in the West Bank. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says in a statement "Hamas is responsible, and Hamas will pay." He adds the teenagers "were kidnapped and murdered in cold blood by wild beasts."

The death toll in Gaza’s Shejaiya neighborhood could have been lower had Hamas allowed residents to leave when they were requested to do so by the IDF, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told BBC Arabic on Sunday. Days ago, Israel distributed fliers and sent text messages calling on residents of Shejaiya to leave their homes. But Hamas, Netanyahu told the British news channel, forced them to stay home, effectively using them as human shields. Hamas has displayed photos of mangled bodies lying on the streets of the neighborhood and of the injured being taken to the city’s Shifa hospital. “I...

Prime minister says Hamas seeks as many casualties as possible to be displayed by the world media. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu charged Sunday that Hamas was callously making use of Palestinian casualties for the sake of the visual impact in television images and called on the international community to intervene and demilitarize the Gaza Strip. In an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, Netanyahu accused Hamas of a cynical disregard for human life. “These people are the worst terrorists — genocidal terrorists,” he said. “They call for the destruction of Israel and they call for the killing of every Jew, wherever...

Thirteen soldiers were killed overnight when they encountered fierce resistance fighting in the dense urban environment of Gaza City, the IDF announced Sunday evening. The central battle began when an anti-tank missile fired from within a Gaza building struck an Israeli armored personnel carrier, killing seven soldiers from the 13th battalion of the Golani Brigade, the army said. The ambush, supported by machine gun fire, took place in the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza City, in the northern part of the 40-kilometer-long Strip. In the ensuing fighting, an unspecified number of soldiers were wounded, including Col. Ghassan Elian, the commander of...