Late last Thursday, June 12, three Israeli-American teens were abducted in the West Bank while they were hitchhiking home. Israel has been blaming Hamas, a Palestinian Islamic militant group, for their abduction, but without much substantial evidence.
On the one hand, the teens’ abduction seemed to be creating a way for Israel and Palestine to perhaps reconciliate.
In a Los Angeles Times report, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been reported to be strongly supporting Israel in their demand for the release of the teens, and expressed his concern for them.
“The three teens are human beings like us and they should be returned to their families,” the Los Angeles Times report quoted Abbas.
Abbas further said, “Those who kidnapped the three teenagers want to destroy us. We will hold them accountable.”
On the other hand, Israel and Palestine had been in more heated conflict as a result of both of their searches for the teenagers.
Early Thursday, June 19, Israeli and Palestinian soldiers clashed violently with each other during an arrest raid. 30 Palestinians were arrested during the raid.
The military reported that since last Thursday, 280 Palestinians have been arrested, 200 of which were Hamas members.
Although the leader of Palestine expresses passion for the search of the teenagers, it seems that a search on both Israel’s and Palestine’s part is also causing more direct confrontation and conflict between the two countries’ troops.
