US Secretary of State John Kerry Sunday condemned the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers, and said “many indications” pointed to the involvement of Hamas.
“The United States strongly condemns the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers and calls for their immediate release,” Kerry said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with their families. We hope for their quick and safe return home. We continue to offer our full support for Israel in its search for the missing teens, and we have encouraged full cooperation between the Israeli and Palestinian security services. We understand that cooperation is ongoing.
“We are still seeking details on the parties responsible for this despicable terrorist act, although many indications point to Hamas’ involvement,” he continued. “As we gather this information, we reiterate our position that Hamas is a terrorist organization known for its attacks on innocent civilians and which has used kidnapping in the past,” he said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly accused Hamas of the kidnapping.
The teenagers, students at Jewish seminaries in the West Bank, were believed to have been kidnapped Thursday night while hitchhiking in an area between Bethlehem and Hebron.
Their disappearance came 10 days after the establishment of a new Palestinian government of technocrats pieced together by PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement and Hamas following a unity agreement between rival leaders in the West Bank and Gaza.
The US, along with the rest of the international community, said it would work with the Palestinian unity government, despite the inclusion of Hamas, which it considers a terror organization.
On Sunday, a right-wing Israeli minister accused the Obama administration of facilitating the attack through its support for Palestinian unity.
The kidnapping of the yeshiva students — Eyal Yifrach, 19, Gil-ad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Frenkel, 16 — has prompted a huge search operation by Israeli security forces. On Sunday the IDF shut down all movement in and out of Hebron security forces continued to sweep the area.
A State Department official told The Times of Israel Sunday that the US was aware of reports that Frankel was a US citizen, but could not confirm them due to privacy considerations. US citizens must waive their right to privacy in certain cases in order for the State Department to be able to speak publically about their cases.
The official added that generally speaking, when a US citizen is reported missing or kidnapped, the State Department works closely with local authorities and cooperates fully in their search efforts.
Rebecca Shimoni Stoil contributed from Washington.
WarSclerotic 
June 15, 2014 at 9:00 PM
This rotten, lying, oppressive and illegal US government is directly responsible for this situation : without the active support of the illegal BHO gang sitting in the WH / supporting muslim terrorists like Hamas worldwide, this would not have taken place ! That the US citizens have not yet impeached the BHO gang shows that the US society is full steam going down the drain ! If not for the rest of the western world being affected, I wouldnt care anymore, for too much harm has been done to Israel by this US government.