By Turgut Alp Boyraz
JERUSALEM
A Palestinian teen has been abducted and killed near Jerusalem with his family blaming Jewish settlers in what seemed like a revenge attack for the recent killing of three young settlers.
"The body of the Arab boy was found in a forest in Jerusalem," Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barakat was quoted as saying by the Israeli news site Walla.
"This is a serious, barbaric and unacceptable act," he said.
According to Anadolu Agency reporter, Israeli police had summoned the father of Mohamed Hussien Abu Khdeer, 16, to identify his body.
"Mohamed went to the mosque nearly half an hour before dawn prayer," his cousin, Ansam Abu Khdeer, told AA inside the family home in the Shuafat district near Jerusalem.
"Two eyewitnesses told us he was abducted by a group of Jewish settlers," she added.
"It's like we Palestinians live in hell. It is very hard," said the 27-year-old cousin.
Talking to AA before being summoned by the Israeli police, the father blamed Jewish settlers for abducting his boy.
"The settlers kidnapped him inside a car and fled," he said.
According to AA reporter inside the house, heavy clashes are raging in the area between angry Palestinian residents and Israeli police.
Tension has been high since three Israeli settlers – who went missing in June – were found dead Monday near the West Bank city of Hebron.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has blamed Hamas for their deaths and threatened to retaliate.
In the almost three weeks since the settlers' disappearance, Israel has rounded up hundreds of Palestinians in the West Bank, including Hamas lawmakers, former cabinet ministers and senior members.
No Palestinian group has claimed responsibility for the settlers' disappearance or deaths.
Additional reporting by Anees Barghouthy
