While leftist group B'Tselem “strongly condemned” the murders of teen kidnap victims Eyal Yifrah (19), Naftali Frenkel (16), and Gilad Sha'ar (16), the organization is also very concerned that Israel will engage in “collective punishment” against Palestinians “in revenge” for the murders.
“B'Tselem renews its call to the Israeli government to refrain from acts of vengeance for the abduction and killing of the three Israeli teens,” the group said in an statement. “B'Tselem cautions the security forces to avoid harming the innocent Palestinian population, or abusing the public atmosphere in Israel with the discovery of the bodies, to impose collective punishment, as was done in the past two weeks as part of the searches. The deliberate harming of an entire civilian population as punishment for the actions of individuals is both illegal and immoral."
“Additionally, the security forces must prepare for possible acts of revenge by settlers,” the group added.
In its condemnation statement, B'Tselem said that “deliberate targeting of civilians undermines all moral, legal and human principles. The deliberate killing of civilians is defined as a grave breach of international humanitarian law, and cannot be justified, regardless of the circumstances.”
B'Tselem is not the only far-left group to react to news of the murder. Earlier Monday, far-left NGO Peace Now used the news to call for a renewal of peace talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA)-Hamas unity government.
"Tonight, with sad hearts, we send condolences to the families of the victims - Eyal, Naftali, and Gilad," Peace Now said, on its Facebook page. "There is no left and no right; we all mourn the lives of three innocent people, young boys who were murdered in cold blood. The terrorists behind the act should be caught and punished - there is no justification for kidnapping and harming innocent people."
Instead of revenge, however, the group called for "dialogue."
"The solution, and the way to avoid more casualties in the future, is to reach a peace agreement that would ensure peace and security of us all," the group continued. "May we see better days."