Israel names suspects in West Bank kidnappings
- 10 years ago
As the search for three missing teenagers continues Israel has released pictures of two men it says are the prime suspects in their disappearance.
The biggest military operation in the West bank in five years has turned up nothing, apart from more than 250 arrests, mostly of members of Hamas.
The suspects were named as Marwan Kawasme and Amar Abu Aysha, both Hamas members from Hebron who have served time in Israeli prisons. Israel insists the teenagers were kidnapped, and blames Hamas for it.
Two weeks of intensive house-to-house searches have raised tension in the West Bank, with some civil rights groups and Palestinians accusing Israel of imposing a collective punishment on civilians. Israel says other suspects are being questioned, and that the two men are part of a group behind the abductions.
Some have accused Israel of using the kidnapping as an excuse to crack down on Hamas in the West Bank.
The biggest military operation in the West bank in five years has turned up nothing, apart from more than 250 arrests, mostly of members of Hamas.
The suspects were named as Marwan Kawasme and Amar Abu Aysha, both Hamas members from Hebron who have served time in Israeli prisons. Israel insists the teenagers were kidnapped, and blames Hamas for it.
Two weeks of intensive house-to-house searches have raised tension in the West Bank, with some civil rights groups and Palestinians accusing Israel of imposing a collective punishment on civilians. Israel says other suspects are being questioned, and that the two men are part of a group behind the abductions.
Some have accused Israel of using the kidnapping as an excuse to crack down on Hamas in the West Bank.