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On Wednesday, A Palestinian teenager was abducted and killed in a possible act of revenge for the murder of three Israeli youths by militants, triggering clashes in east Jerusalem. Palestinian leaders condemned the killing, and held Israel responsible for it, demanding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government act to prevent any revenge attacks.
“I demand the Israeli government punish the killers if it wants peace between the Palestinian and the Israeli peoples”, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said.
Netanyahu condemned the “despicable murder” and ordered investigators to probe the killing “as quickly as possible” and track down the perpetrators, urging both sides “not to take the law into their own hands”. According to sources, sixteen-year-old Mohammed Abu Khder was seen by witnesses being forced into a car in east Jerusalem by three Israelis. The police confirmed that a dead body was found in a forest in the West Jerusalem neighborhood of Givat Shaul, but have refused to say that the two incidents are related. DNA tests, however, proved that it was the missing teenager’s body, the boy’s father, Hussein Abu Khder, said.
“The body belongs to my son”, Khyder said, adding that the boy’s cause of death was not clear.
It is widely believed that the attack was perpetrated as revenge for the abduction and murder of three Israelis teens by Palestinian militants. Following the incident, Israeli police has raised the alert level across Israel to the second highest level.
Crowds of angry Palestinians started gathering outside the teen’s home in Shuafat, with clashes erupting early at 8:00 a.m. and showing no sign of stopping throughout the day.
Black smoke was visible in the sky as several hundreds of masked Palestinians threw stones at Israeli policemen in riot gear; the police responded by firing sound bombs, tear gas and rubber bullets. Humanitarian movement International Red Cross and Red Crescent said that at least 65 people were injured in the clashes, three of them by live bullets and over 35 people, including six journalists, were wounded by rubber bullets.
