Israel vowed Tuesday to hunt down the Hamas militants it holds responsible for kidnapping and killing three teenagers, whose bodies were found near the town of Hebron on Monday.
Israel’s military said it bombed dozens of sites in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, striking at mostly Hamas targets, though its statement did not link the strikes to the abductions.
Instead, the military cited 18 Palestinian rockets launched against Israel from Gaza in the past two days, which Israeli officials have said Hamas carried out.
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FILE - A combination of three photos of, from left, Israeli teens Eyal Yifrah, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Fraenkel, a 16-year-old with dual Israeli-U.S. citizenship, who disappeared near Hebron on June 12. Their bodies were found June 30, 2014.
Israel's security cabinet, which held an emergency session late on Monday, was due to meet again on Tuesday, officials said.
An Israeli official familiar with the content of the meeting confirmed reports that Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon suggested a "measured" response that would not lead to an escalation with Gaza, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was inclined to accept his position.
Any sustained campaign there could undermine Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The security cabinet did not vote on Yaalon's proposal and was expected to reconvene on Tuesday evening.
Blaming Hamas
Netanyahu had promised Hamas would pay after the discovery of the three Jewish seminary students' bodies under a pile of rocks near the West Bank city of Hebron on Monday.
The three teens - Gilad Shaer, 16, from Talmon settlement near the West Bank city of Ramallah; Naftali Frenkel, 16, from Nof Ayalon, and Eyal Ifrach, 19, from Elad, both towns in central Israel – disappeared while hitchhiking June 12.
The Islamist group has neither confirmed nor denied Israel's allegations about its role in the disappearance of the students.
But Hamas has warned that Israel would "open the gates of hell" if it carried out any reprisal operations against the Islamist movement, whose power base is in Gaza, the French news agency AFP reported.
In Gaza, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri warned Israel against going too far.
"The response of the resistance has been limited, and Netanyahu must not test Hamas's patience," said Abu Zuhri, whose group's arsenal includes rockets that can reach Tel Aviv.
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Israel’s Yaalon vowed the deaths would not go unavenged.
"Hamas is responsible for the kidnapping and murder of the youths and we know how to settle accounts with them," Yaalon said. "We will continue to hunt the killers of the youngsters, we will not rest nor will we be silent until we lay our hands on them."
In the West Bank on Tuesday, an Israeli military spokeswoman said troops opened fire at a man, identified by Palestinian officials as Yousouf Al-Zagha, 19, who threw a grenade at soldiers who were attempting to arrest a militant in the Jenin refugee camp.
A Palestinian who witnessed the incident said Zagha was an innocent passerby.
The U.N. human rights office urged all Israelis and Palestinians to exercise "maximum restraint."
United Israelis
The kidnapping appalled Israelis who rallied behind the youngsters' families in a display of national unity.
"They were kidnapped and murdered in cold blood by beasts ... Hamas is responsible and Hamas will pay," Netanyahu said in a statement on Monday.
A joint funeral was set for 1430 GMT on Tuesday in the central Israeli town of Modiin, with Netanyahu expected to attend, after separate ceremonies in the home towns of each victim.
The teens, who attended a religious school in a Jewish settlement, had apparently been shot soon after being taken, officials said. Two of the youths lived in Israel.
The men Israel has accused of carrying out the abductions are still at large. They were identified as Marwan Qawasmeh and Amer Abu Eishe.
Israeli media said the break in the case came after their relatives were interrogated.
Troops set off explosions in the family homes of the alleged abductors late on Monday, blowing open a doorway in one, an army spokeswoman said. The other property was on fire after the blast. Neighbors said both houses were empty.
"This kind of act is a sin, whether you're a Muslim or Jew. They've scared the kids so much," Um Sharif, the mother of one of the alleged kidnappers said about the damage caused to her home. She said she did not believe her son had been involved.
Hamas has been rocked by the arrest of dozens of its activists in an Israeli military sweep in the West Bank over the past three weeks during the search for the teenagers that Israel said was also aimed at weakening the militant movement.
Up to six Palestinians died as a result of the Israeli operation, local residents said
World reaction
After news of the teenagers' deaths, condolence messages and condemnation of the killings poured in from foreign leaders.
"The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms, this senseless act of terror against innocent youths," President Barack Obama said in a statement. "I also urge all parties to refrain from steps that could further destabilize the situation."
Netanyahu seized on the abduction to demand Abbas annul a reconciliation deal he reached with Hamas, his long-time rival, in April that led to a unity Palestinian government on June 2.
Abbas condemned the abduction and pledged the cooperation of his security forces, drawing criticism from Hamas and undercutting his popularity among Palestinians angered by what they saw as his collusion with Israel.
Hamas, which has maintained security control of the Gaza Strip since the unity deal, is shunned by the West over its refusal to renounce violence. The group has called for Israel's destruction, although various officials have at times indicated a willingness to negotiate a long-term cease-fire.
Some information for this report provided by Reuters and AFP.
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