Israeli troops seeking Hamas members for teens' disappearance kill 2 Palestinians

JERUSALEM, June 20 (UPI) -- Two Palestinians were killed Friday as Palestinian youth clashed with Israeli soldiers in the southern West Bank town of Dura. The soldiers were attempting to arrest Hamas members suspected in the abduction of three Israeli teens.

The dead included a 14 or 15-year-old identified as Mahmoud Jihad Muhammad Dudeen, who was shot by Israeli soldiers early Friday in the town of Dura. Later Friday, 22-year-old Mustafa Hosni Aslan was killed when he was shot in the head near the Qalandiyah checkpoint in Ramallah.

Israeli Defense Forces spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner reported that "both incidents occurred during riots in which IEDs were directly hurled at Israeli soldiers who felt their lives were threatened and returned live fire." The IEDS, he said, were hand grenades.

The Israeli forces were en route to arrest Hamas members suspected of involvement in the abduction of three Israeli teenagers a week earlier. The three teens, identified by IDF as Gilad Shaar, 16; Naftali Frenkel, 16; and Eyal Yifrach, 19, disappeared late June 12 or June 13.