Kidnapped students
Kidnapped studentsCourtesy of the families

Residents of the central Israeli city of Elad have held a mass public prayer for the safety of three yeshiva students abducted by terrorists in the Gush Etzion bloc in Judea, south of Jerusalem.

Watch: Mass prayers in Elad

Elad is the hometown of 19-year-old Eyal Yifrah, who was kidnapped by terrorists as he hitchhiked home, together with Naftali Frenkel and Gilad Sha'ar, both 16, from the towns of Nof Ayalon and Talmon respectively.

The Israeli Chief Rabbis have urged Jews throughout the world to pray for the safety of the boys, whose Hebrew names are Ya'akov Naftali ben Rachel Devorah, Eyal ben Iris T'shura, and Gil'ad Micha'el ben Bat-Galim. 

A mass prayer at the Kotel (Western Wall) is scheduled to take place at 12:15 a.m.

The missing boys:

From left to right: Naftali Frenkel, Gilad Sha'ar and Eyal Yifrah
From left to right: Naftali Frenkel, Gilad Sha'ar and Eyal YifrahCourtesy of the families