According to Israeli newspapers, Israeli Army has rounded up 80 Palestinians in a raid carried out to recover three Israeli teenagers allegedly abducted by Palestinians. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused the Palestinian group, Hamas, of kidnapping the youths who went missing last Thursday.

Hamas has already denied any wrongdoing and claimed that the boys went missing from the areas under Israeli control.

Israel has come up with yet another idea to play the victim’s role in the wake of the formation of the Palestinian unity government. It appears that Netanyahu is leaving no stone unturned to discredit Palestinians and to drive a wedge between the Palestinian groups who after a long time have agreed to join hands in the greater interest of their cause. According to media reports, some 25,000 or so Israelis prayed at the Western Wall for the safe return of the “kidnapped” teens. Why don’t they also pray for the thousands of Palestinians languishing in jail for years?

In the meantime, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) killed a Palestinian in cold blood but nobody appears to be bothered about the loss of life of a non-Israeli. Israeli pressure in the West Bank has become intolerable and the Palestinians have already warned the Zionist state that such tactics will backfire.

S.H. Moulana

Riyadh