Revenge Killing? Arab Teen Found Murdered

JERUSALEM, Israel -- Jerusalem Arabs rioted on Wednesday following reports that an Arab teenager had been kidnapped and murdered, a day after Israel laid to rest three Jewish teenagers, one who had dual Israeli-American citizenship. 

Rioters claimed it was a revenge attack for the brutal murder of the three Israelis. According to reports, an Arab youth was forced into a car in the Shuafat neighborhood. A short time later the burned body of an Arab youth was found in the Jerusalem forest across town.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told CBN News that police were investigating to see if the murder was a criminal act or nationalistically motivated, i.e., a terrorist revenge killing.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the murder "reprehensible" and called on all sides not to take the law into their own hands.

Meanwhile, Israel shifted gears on Tuesday evening following the funerals of the three Israeli teenagers abducted by terrorists on June 12 and subsequently murdered. 

Israel had mounted a massive search for the teens as the tragedy held the nation in suspense. Their bodies were found Monday outside the Arab town of Halhoul in Samaria (the West Bank).

Tens of thousands of mourners paid their last respects to the three teens, who were buried side-by-side not far from Jerusalem Tuesday evening.

Israelis took to the streets and expressed a variety of reactions - grief, revenge, and some demanding action from the government.

"I want the government to get together, get the army together and to crush Hamas now," Aaron, a protestor in Jerusalem, said.

"Today is really a day of national mourning in Israel," Eitan Schwartz, advisor to Tel Aviv's mayor said. "I don't think there was, in the last few years a cause or reason that you can really say that the entire nation got behind together in prayer and hopes for the return of these three guys."

Just hours after the funerals, Netanyahu laid out his plan for dealing with the terror group. Capture the killers and their accomplices; hit Hamas hard in Judea and Samaria; and expand the operation against Hamas in Gaza as necessary.

"We will have to make a decision, as we did yesterday in the IDF taking action, to root out some of the terror infrastructure in Gaza where rockets are fired at our cities, have to make decisions that are going to protect our civilian population," Israeli Ambassador to Washington Ron Dermer said.

According to an Israel Defense Forces statement, Israel has already debilitated Hamas on every level but it's not finished yet.

After launching more than 90 rockets at Israel since the abductions, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal said his organization doesn't want an escalation with Israel and wasn't connected to the kidnapping. 

The Israeli Air Force hit dozens of terror targets in Gaza in retaliation for the rockets the last two weeks.

The State Department has urged Israel and the Palestinians to exercise restraint. Dermer told CBN News that Israel's expectations from the United States are clear.

"I expect that the United States will stand firmly by Israel's side as we confront terrorism," he said.