‘We just want our sons home’

As Israelis became more fearful for the fate of the kidnapped boys this week, the military scaled back its on-the-ground search operation in the West Bank.

Peter Lerner, head of the IDF’s foreign press branch, told The AJN on Tuesday that there is to be “more of the same, but a little bit less” in terms of the general operation West Bank. Meanwhile, the use of intelligence and targeted military activity is increasing.

Lerner insisted that the change on the ground does not point to despondency, and stressed that the boys are presumed to be alive. He said of their captors: “We will catch up with them; we are determined to and we have the capabilities to do so.”

As the military continued its fight, the parents of the boys have been mounting a battle of their own – for hearts and minds in the international arena. The three mothers went to the United Nations on Tuesday and Rachel Frenkel, the mother of Naftali Frenkel, declared in front of the UN Human Rights Council: “Mr President, it is wrong to take children, innocent boys or girls, and use them as instruments of any struggle. It is cruel. This council is charged with protecting human rights. I wish to ask: Doesn’t every child have the right to come home safely from school?

“We just want them back in our homes, in their beds. We just want to hug them again.”

She spoke briefly about the personalities of the three boys – her son, Eyal Yifrah and Gilad Shaar – and said: “I believe much more can be done, and should be done, by so many. That is why we three mothers have come here today, before the United Nations, and before the world, to ask everyone to do whatever they can to bring back our boys.”

Meanwhile, the Palestinian death count – mostly a result of people aggressively confronting Israeli forces – has been rising, and as of press time stands at four. This, and measures associated with Israel’s operation such as restrictions on movement in parts of the West Bank, has prompted strong criticism from Palestinians, and from some in the international community and on Israel’s left.

On Sunday nine Israeli human rights organisations, together with Amnesty International, issued a statement which declared: “The need to return the abducted Israelis safe and sound to their homes and families is clear. Yet, there is concern that many of the actions undertaken harm the Palestinian population and do not serve this purpose.”

The military insists that it is doing everything it can to keep civilians out of the conflict. Lerner said: “Our operations are as pinpointed as possible,” adding officers mostly limited the closure of the West Bank to the Hebron area, instead of applying it more widely. He said the IDF has acted “to the best of our capabilities to limit friction with the population”.

Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal claimed this week that, despite Israel’s insistence that his group has the boys, it has no information about them. Nevertheless, he suggested the kidnappers should be admired. If they were kidnapped the perpetrators “should be saluted”, said Mashaal.

Israel saw his comments as both reprehensible and ill-placed bravado. “Mashaal once again made clear that Hamas remains committed to its war against Israel and its war against every Israeli citizen, and coincidently, against every Jew around the world,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, repeating his demand that the Palestinian Authority ends its reconciliation with Hamas based on the latter’s violent identity.

Lerner said that any Hamas gains from the kidnapping have been strongly outweighed by the price that it has paid. His army has arrested some 350 Palestinians, most of them affiliated with Hamas, during the search for the boys. They include 57 terrorists who were freed in the deal that led to the release of Gilad Shalit – all of whom are now in custody and likely to end up back in jail to serve all of their original sentence plus any new sentence for recent crimes. “If [Hamas’] intention in kidnapping was to release terrorists then they have created the exact opposite,” Lerner told The AJN.

Jerusalem is hoping two related developments strengthen the deterrent effect of the arrests made since the kidnapping. One is the indictment of Ziad Awad, another terrorist freed in the Shalit swap, for the murder of Jewish police officer Baruch Mizrahi in the West Bank on Passover eve. The other is the resumption of the practice, halted several years ago, of destroying terrorists’ homes, starting with Awad’s, which could be bulldozed as soon as this weekend.

Israel has been under attack on its southern and northern borders since the kidnapping. More than 20 rockets have landed in southern Israel, fired from the Gaza strip, and fire from Syria killed a child – an Arab citizen of Israel – and wounded two civilian adults. Israel responded with attacks on Syrian military sites, leaving Damascus outraged and claiming that four people were killed and nine injured.

Discussing the attack from Syria, Netanyahu said: “The enemies of the State of Israel shrink from nothing. They do not shrink from attacking civilians and from killing children, as occurred this morning. They do not distinguish between Jewish and non-Jewish citizens of the State of Israel.

“As a nation, our heart is torn over the abduction of any youth and the murder of any youth, and I am certain that I represent all of you as I send my condolences to this grieving family.”

NATHAN JEFFAY