The country's authorities are looking for an adequate response to the murder of teenagers

The Israeli government held several meetings yesterday to consider options for responding to the killing of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank, but failed to reach a consensus. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proposed a “soft option” of a military operation, probably with the expectation of causing a split in the Palestinian political alliance of the Fatah party and the radical Hamas movement. However, this initiative met strong opposition from the far-right Jewish Home, whose leader Naftali Bennett called the coalition partners' proposals "weak and shameful."

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Photo: Reuters/Nir Elias

Photo: Reuters/Baz Ratner

The result of the search operation "Bring Back the Brothers", which became the largest Israeli action in the West Bank in recent decades, was tragic. Three Jewish teenagers who disappeared in mid-June, the eldest of whom was 19 years old, were found dead near Hebron. Israeli authorities blamed the radical movement Hamas, whose combat units operate mainly in the Gaza Strip, but also have cells in the West Bank. The General Security Service has published the names of three Hebron residents belonging to the militant wing of Hamas and suspected of kidnapping Israeli citizens. Hamas denied any involvement in the tragedy.

Even before the decision to retaliate was made, the Israeli Air Force carried out targeted strikes on 34 targets in the Gaza Strip. Palestinians reported four wounded.

“Hamas is responsible, and they will pay,” reads the status on Benjamin Netanyahu’s Facebook page. “Israeli youths were abducted in cold blood and killed by animals in human form. My condolences to their families and friends.”

This statement was made before a cabinet meeting, during which it was planned to decide in what form the Israeli army's retaliatory military operation would take place. However, the government failed to reach a consensus, and the issue was postponed to Wednesday.

According to Israeli media reports, supporters of a relatively soft option, including Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, proposed limiting air strikes to Hamas targets in Gaza and punishing the teenagers' killers. The head of the far-right Jewish Home, Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, called this decision “weak and shameful” and demanded a full-scale ground operation, the freezing of Hamas accounts in the West Bank and death sentences for Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis.

Opposition from the far right could hinder Benjamin Netanyahu's plan, which, according to experts, is to use the current situation to put pressure on the head of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. Israel has long been dissatisfied with his political alliance with Hamas radicals, and the death of teenagers in the Fatah-controlled West Bank puts Abbas in an extremely difficult position. The head of the Palestinian Authority has already expressed condolences to the Jewish people, effectively distancing himself from his government partners, but Israel would like a complete break between them.

“From the very beginning, the Israeli government rejected the alliance between Hamas and Fatah,” Israeli Ambassador to the Russian Federation Dorit Golender explained to Kommersant. “Now responsibility for what happened lies, among other things, with the head of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. The situation for the Palestinians is "Israeli negotiations have become very difficult, but Israel still does not refuse them."

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