Jerusalem, Jul 2 (IANS): Thousands of Israeli troops canvassed the West Bank Tuesday searching for the two suspected Palestinian militants accused of abducting and murdering three Israeli teenagers who were buried in a public funeral ceremony attended by thousands earlier in the day.
Over two weeks of searching for Gilad Shaer and Naftali Frenekel, both 16, and Eyal Yifrach, 19, ended in tragedy Monday evening when members of an elite army unit and civilian volunteers found their bodies buried in a shallow pit in a field northwest of Hebron
Forensics experts and the Shin Bet security service assessed that the teens were shot dead just minutes after getting into the abductors' car. Their bodies were later hastily dumped near the town of Halhul, about a 15-minute drive from the junction where they had been hitchhiking on the night of June 12, Xinhua reported.
Israel announced its two prime suspects, Marwan Kawasmeh, 29, and Amar Abu-Eisha, 33, claiming they were Hamas operatives who were previously imprisoned in Israeli jails.