RAMALLAH
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) warned on Sunday that Israel intends to use the presumed kidnapping of three Jewish settlers in the West Bank as a "pretext" to expand settlement projects inside occupied territories.
"The Israeli prime minister is throwing accusations at the Palestinians to overshadow [his government's] incompetence before the Israeli people," read a statement by the Ramallah-based Palestinian umbrella group on Sunday.
Earlier on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government "knows for a fact" that the Gaza-based Hamas movement kidnapped three teenage Jewish settlers who had gone missing on Thursday from a settlement in the southern West Bank Hebron city.
Netanyahu linked the incident to a recent Palestinian reconciliation deal between Fatah movement in the West Bank and rival Hamas.
Hamas, for its part, ridiculed Netanyahu's accusations, saying his statements are "stupid and intelligence-driven." No Palestinian group has claimed responsibility for the alleged kidnapping thus far.
In the aftermath of the disappearance of the three settlers, the Israeli army cordoned off the whole city of Hebron and detained around 100 Palestinians during overnight raids on cities and villages in the West Bank.
Israeli forces also staged several air strikes and closed all border crossings with the besieged Gaza Strip.
"This is Netanyahu's standard tactic to distract from his own support of terrorist acts committed by the Judaization gangs, including murder, ethnic cleansing, land grabs and violation of holy sites," the PLO said in its release.
The PLO also rejected Netanyahu's claim that the Palestinian Authority (PA), the ruling P.L.O faction in the West Bank, is responsible for the safety of the three boys.
"The Palestinian Authority is aware of its duties but we refuse to take the blame for crimes and violations committed by the occupation," the release said.
Netanyahu has repeatedly voiced his disapproval of the recent Palestinian reconciliation deal which saw the formation of a unity government and a prospect for legislative elections. Israel considers Hamas - which is strongly opposed to the two-state solution - a "terrorist group."
The Israeli government suspended peace talks with the PA following the reconciliation deal and announced plans to resume the construction of new settlements inside the West Bank - a major sticking point in the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations.
By Qais Abu Samra
www.aa.com.tr/en
