HBO drops trailer for show on violence that led to 2014 Gaza war
‘Our Boys’ miniseries promises to tell story of both Israelis and Palestinians when kidnappings and brutal murders spiraled tensions out of control
Streaming giant HBO on Sunday dropped the official trailer for its new miniseries focusing on the violence that wracked Israel in the lead-up to the 2014 Gaza war.
The 10-part series follows the investigation into the murder of Muhammad Abu Khdeir, a Palestinian teen who was killed by Jewish extremists in revenge for the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teens by Hamas terrorists.
HBO says the new miniseries — the brainchild of two Israelis and a Palestinian — “tells the story of all those involved, Jews and Arabs alike.”
The series, which is set to premiere August 12, promises viewers a glimpse of the tense and chilling events that led to the outbreak of the 50-day war in the Gaza Strip.
“Our Boys” is set in the summer of 2014, when Jewish teenagers Gil-ad Shaar, Eyal Yifrach and Naftali Fraenkel were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists in the West Bank, and killed shortly thereafter.
Their abductions sparked a massive search operation and crackdown on Hamas in the West Bank, with hundreds of members of the terrorist organization arrested. Tensions ratcheted up further after the teens’ bodies were found outside Hebron at the end of June, and Abu Khdeir was killed by a group Jewish Israelis in an apparent revenge attack, sparking days of unrest throughout the country and in the West Bank and heavy rocket fire from the Gaza Strip at Israel.
On July 8, Israel launched Operation Protective Edge to stem rocket fire from Gaza with airstrikes, and later carried out a ground incursion into the Strip to destroy a network of cross-border attack tunnels.
“Our Boys” revolves around a Shin Bet investigator named Simon (played by Shlomi Elkabetz) who is tasked with the difficult job of investigating Abu Khdeir’s murder in an increasingly hostile political climate.
The series, filmed on location in Israel, was a co-production of cable channel HBO and Israeli production company Keshet International.
It was created by Hagai Levi (“In Treatment” and “The Affair”), Joseph Cedar (“Footnote” and “Beaufort”) and Tawfik Abu-Wael (“Atash” and “Tanathur”).
“Our Boys” will debut August 12 with two one-hour back-to-back episodes beginning at 9 p.m. in the US, followed by single episodes on subsequent Mondays. The show will also be available on HBO NOW, HBO GO, HBO On Demand and partners’ streaming platforms.
