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Israel soldiers search West Bank for missing teens

13 June 2014 21:11 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Israeli soldiers searched the West Bank on Friday for three missing teenagers from nearby settlements, one of them a U.S. citizen, amid fears Palestinian militants abducted them, authorities said, APA reports quoting Associated Press.

Israel police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said one of the missing teens called police to say the three had been kidnapped, without giving additional details. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed the Palestinian Authority for their disappearance without elaborating, saying he held the government responsible for their safety.

Netanyahu told the teens' families that Israel is "making every effort" to find them, his office said in a statement.

Palestinian authorities could not be reached for comment and no one immediately claimed responsibility for the teens' possible abduction.

Two Israeli defense officials said authorities believed the teens likely were kidnapped by Palestinian militants, without elaborating. They spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not allowed to brief journalists.

Brig. Gen. Motti Almoz, a military spokesman, said that military and intelligence forces were involved in the search for the missing teens.

"The main mission is to ensure their return," Almoz said. He refused to offer any other details, saying it would compromise the operation.

Tsuri Tsuf, a spokesman for a settlement where one of the teens is from, told Israel's Channel 10 television that his community was "greatly worried" and gathered to pray for the safety of the youths. The station reported the teenagers hitched a ride the night before from their Yeshiva, or religious seminary, and had not been seen since.

Authorities found a burned-out car during their search that investigators were examining, local media reported.