After security forces in the West Bank found the bodies of three Israeli teenagers who had been murdered, Prime Minister Netanyahu vowed revenge on Hamas, the group he holds responsible. Israeli security forces broke into the homes of the suspected kidnappers, Hamas operatives Marwan Qawasameh and Amar Abu Aisha, in Hebron. Israeli forces had been conducting security sweeps for three weeks in search of the youths; Palestinian sources claimed that as many as six Palestinians were killed in the operation. Hamas denied responsibility for the murder of the three teens, and warned that Israeli attempts to escalate will “open the gates of hell.” An Israeli airstrike targeted the Gaza Strip after a rocket from Gaza exploded in Eshkol.
