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Israel opens gates to collective reprisals for youth murders

The government of Israel has set a course for collective punishment in response to the murders of the three Israeli youth, in violation of international law.
The shadow of a Palestinian man is cast as he inspects the family home of an alleged abductor after Israeli troops set off an explosion on the top floor in the West Bank City of Hebron July 1, 2014. The bodies of three missing Israeli teenagers were found in the occupied West Bank, and Israel vowed to punish Hamas, the Palestinian group it accuses of abducting and killing them. Troops set off explosions in the family homes of the alleged abductors, blowing open a doorway in one, an army spokeswoman said, wh

Twelve days of constant media coverage, often 24-hour live reporting and repeated accusations from the very top of the Israeli government of the involvement of Hamas in the kidnapping and killing of the three Israeli youths, have reached the level of hysteria.

The Israeli army, well-armed Jewish settlers and even members of the press have taken up these calls, acted on them, expounded on them and justified them. 

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