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Israel arrests 10 Palestinians

June 21, 2014

Israeli forces have arrested 10 more Palestinians in their search for three missing teenagers. Officials accuse Hamas of kidnapping two 16-year-olds and a 19-year-old on June 12 in the West Bank.

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Israeli army in West Bank
Image: Reuters/Mussa Qawasma

On Saturday, Israel sent more troops to the occupied West Bank to search for three teenagers the government believes abducted by the Palestinian group Hamas, an allegation the party has denied. The army announced that it had also arrested another 10 people during its hunt - the latest in a series of detentions and raids that have triggered street clashes in the West Bank.

Overnight in Ramallah, troops raided the offices of a media broadcast and production company that provides services to a number of outlets, including the Hamas-affiliated al-Quds channel, news agencies reported. An Israeli military spokeswoman said the soldiers found "electronic devices and magnetic media used for terrorism" that belonged to Hamas, though she did not go into further detail.

In the search for the teens, the Israeli army has arrested about 330 people. Soldiers have searched more than 1,150 sites in the West Bank, according to the army. On Friday, Israeli soldiers killed a 15-year-old Palestinian boy.

Some prisoners rearrested?

Public radio has reported that those arrested include people released from Israeli jails as part of the 2011 deal to free the soldier Gilad Shalit, who had spent five years in Hamas custody. However, the army has declined to confirm that report.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has condemned the kidnapping of Gil-Ad Shaer and US-Israeli national Naftali Fraenkel, both 16, and Eyal Yifrah, 19. However, Abbas has also criticized the extent of Israel's recent raids, saying they amount to collective punishment.

The situation has also put pressure on a unity pact between the Fatah party, led by Abbas and in charge of the West Bank, and Hamas, which has controlled the Gaza Strip since winning parliamentary elections in 2006. On Friday, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki told the news agency Reuters that any involvement by Hamas in the teens' abductions would threaten the deal, which has been met with mixed reactions by the international community.

mkg/rc (Reuters, AFP)