The captors of three Israeli teenagers abducted in June shot the victims 10 times with a silenced gun, a US official involved in the case told Reuters. The official disclosed the last words of one of the teens, who managed to call the police.
One of the victims – 16-year-old Naftali Fraenkel – held American
citizenship, which gives the FBI the right to take part in the
investigation.
According to the American official, who spoke on condition of
anonymity, US investigators believe the captors planned to kill
the three teenagers from the beginning, which explains why they
used a silenced weapon.
This version of events contradicts previously voiced speculation
that Eyal Yifrah, Gilad Sha'ar, and Naftali Frenkel were only
shot after the captors "panicked" following Gilad's call
to inform authorities that he had been kidnapped. Israeli
authorities have accused Hamas of being behind the abductions.
Investigators believe that two Hamas militants were disguised as
religious Jews. One was allegedly driving a car which the three
teens got into, while the other was sat in the front passenger
seat.
"They've kidnapped me!" Sha'ar said during the phone
call, as quoted by Reuters.
The FBI, which has a mandate to investigate cases of Americans
abducted abroad, was handed a copy of the recording just a few
days after it was obtained by Israeli security services. The
audio was analyzed in the United States.
According to the official, an Arabic-accented male voice can be
heard on the tape shouting, "Head down!" as Sha’ar tries
to tell an emergency service operator that he and the other two
teens had been kidnapped.
Distorted, tinny sounds heard on the tape after the male voice's
shouting were found to be consistent with shots from a silenced
firearm, the US official said.
"There were 10 gunshots," he added.
Israeli officials have not commented on the claims, saying they
are “not going public with anything” while the
investigation is continuing.
"We haven't even caught the kidnappers yet, so we're not
going public with anything more now," an unnamed Shin Bet
source told Reuters.
The kidnappings and murders of the three Israeli teenagers have
sparked mass protests and caused a new wave of conflict between
Israel and Palestine. The situation deteriorated between the two
sides after Palestinian teenager Mohammed Abu Khudeir was
abducted and burned alive. The act is believed to have been in
retaliation for the abductions and killings of the Israeli
victims.
Israel and the Gaza Strip have been exchanging rocket fire in
recent days. Israel launched 'Operation Protective Edge' and
called up 40,000 army reservists. At least 30 Palestinians have
been killed since the operation began.