Ending more than three months of manhunt, Israeli security forces on Tuesday shot dead two Palestinians blamed for the June kidnapping and killings of three Israeli teenagers that spiralled into a 50-day conflict with Hamas, killing 2,100 people. They were killed “in an exchange of fire”.
Israel Defence Forces (IDF) stormed into a West Bank hideout early on Tuesday and killed the two Palestinian suspects in an exchange of fire, the Army said.
“Both the suspects were killed in an Israeli operation,” IDF spokesman Peter lerner said. It was later confirmed by Hamas, which had initially denied responsibility for the abduction and murder of the Israeli teenagers, though later accepted its role in funding and executing the killings.
Israel’s internal security agency, Shin Bet, said that the two suspects, Marwan Qawasmeh (29) and Amer Abu Aysha (32), were hiding in a house in Hebron area in West Bank.
The house was surrounded by the Israeli forces before dawn, security sources said, adding the suspects had automatic weapons and were killed “in an exchange of fire”