Three Missing Israeli Teens Found Dead

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Israeli soldiers receive instructions at the start of a search for three missing Israeli teens, feared abducted in the West Bank on June 12, in the village of Halhul near the West Bank city of Hebron, Sunday, June 29, 2014.

Image: Majdi Mohammed/Associated Press

By Louise Roug2014-06-30 17:56:11 UTC

Three Israeli teens who disappeared more than three weeks ago in the occupied West Bank were reportedly found dead on Monday, the BBC and other news outlets reported.

Israeli officials quickly imposed a gag order, making it hard for Israeli journalists to report on the news, but an official told The New York Times that the Israeli Army found the three bodies buried “in a field near Hebron.”

Naftali Frenkel and Gilad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach were last seen hitchhiking near Hebron. Their disappearance sparked a massive social media campaign, under the hashtag #bringbackourboys.

Israeli officials have accused the militant group Hamas of abducting teenager — an accusation Hamas has repeatedly denied.

As the news broke of the discovery of the bodies on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel called an emergency Cabinet meeting.

Topics: US & World, World