Defense chief: Matter of time until we find teens

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon declared on Tuesday that it was “a matter of time” before the three kidnapped Israeli teenagers were found by Israeli security services.

“We are making progress all the time,” Ya’alon said of the search for the missing teenagers. “We are not working in the dark. It is a matter of time till we get to the hostages and the kidnappers, but we need patience.”

Ya’alon made the statement during a tour of the northern border on Tuesday that followed Israeli airstrikes against Syrian military positions on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights in retaliation for a border missile attack that killed Israeli teenager Mohammed Karkara, 15, and injured three others on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, the cabinet voted to significantly reduce the security forces’ West Bank presence and limit the scope of Operation Brother’s Keeper, aimed at finding the three kidnapped teens, to intelligence-gathering campaigns seeking direct ties to the abduction.

The decision came amid raised concerns that a continued IDF crackdown during the approaching Ramadan holiday would spark riots, Army Radio reported, and in light of increased international scrutiny and criticism of the operation, now in its twelfth day. Thousands of troops have been deployed in the West Bank, searching homes and other sites mainly but not solely in the Hebron area, and making more than 300 arrests.

Israeli students Eyal Yifrach, 19, Gil-ad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Fraenkel 16, were kidnapped in the West Bank on June 12. Israel holds Hamas responsible for the attack, but the terror group has not claimed responsibility or issued demands.

After 12 days of searches, army officials are admitting they have little to show for their work. On Tuesday, IDF spokesman Peter Lerner told The Times of Israel that “we’ve not had a breakthrough in either area.”

IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz said the military was still working off the estimation that the three teens were alive, “but with the passing of time, fears grow.”

Ya’alon used the northern visit on Tuesday to warn the Syrian regime that it would be held responsible for any further incidents on the northern border.

“Any violation of our sovereignty on the Golan Heights will bring a harsh response against Assad’s forces, as we have done in the past and will do in the future,” Ya’alon promised.

Military officials said the car carrying Karkara was hit by anti-tank fire on Sunday from an area under the control of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime forces. One rebel commander told The Times of Israel it was possible the regime had targeted the car with a heat-seeking missile. In response, Israeli tanks fired at Syrian army positions and the IAF struck nine targets in Syria overnight Sunday.

Karkara, from the town of Arraba in the Lower Galillee, was killed in the attack and his father, a civilian contractor, and two others were injured while delivering water to workers on the border fence.