Hadash Members of the Knesset and the Communist Party of Israel sharply criticized IDF’s campaign against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank after the kidnapping of three Israeli teens. MK Dov Khenin slammed the IDF campaign, saying that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was conducting “a campaign to tear apart the Palestinian government and to conduct mass arrests under the cover of ‘concern’ for the fate of the teens.”

Israeli occupation forces in Hebron (Photo: Activestills

The crackdown on Palestinians, Khenin said, “guarantees only that there will be a further deterioration in relations between the two sides, the continuation of the cycle of blood and pain.” In the wake of the kidnapping of the three Israeli teens – Eyal Yifrah (19), Naftali Frenkel (16), and Gilad Sha’ar (16) – last week, the security cabinet convened by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, at which ministers discussed “punitive steps” against Hamas which Israel say is behind the kidnapping of three teenagers, media reports said. The extreme-right Economic Minister, Naftali Bennet, said: “The other side has to feel pain and realize that we will get to the planners and executors of this action. Right now the government is planning a series of actions that will be taken against those involved that will ensure that the understood that these actions are not in their best interests.” For MK Khenin, however, maintaining good relations with the Palestinians is the priority. “Only by truly promoting peace and justice between the two nations can we hope to live together. We must end the terrible occupation that has cost so much,” he said.

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http://www.btselem.org/press_releases/20140617_collective_punishment_in_hebron_district