Israeli Troops Seeking Kidnapped Teens Blast into Hebron Home

Desperate Search: Israeli soldiers deploy near the West Bank town of Hebron on June 15, as Israel broadened the search for three teenagers believed kidnapped by militants. Image by Getty Images

By Reuters June 15, 2014

Israeli troops scouring a West Bank city for three Israeli teenagers who are believed to have been abducted by Palestinian militants blew down the door of a home with explosives on Sunday after residents did not admit them, Palestinian witnesses said.

They said there were no casualties in the incident in Hebron, in which gunfire was also briefly heard.

An Israeli military spokeswoman had no immediate comment.

Soldiers have been conducting intensive house-to-house searches in Hebron for three teenagers who went missing on Thursday night after leaving a West Bank settlement. Israel said on Sunday that they had been kidnapped by Hamas militants.

Hamas, which has neither confirmed nor denied the Israeli allegation, has a large following in Hebron.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO