Heightened tensions in Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened his security cabinet late in the night to deliberate over the country's reaction to the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teens in the West Bank.

The national outpouring of grief this week was overshadowed by fears of violence, when clashes broke out in East Jerusalem on Wednesday between Palestinians and Israeli security forces. Palestinians had taken to the streets out of anger over the murder of one of their own teens. They have called the incident a revenge killing.

While Prime Minister Netanyahu condemned the "heinous" act and vowed to ensure a thorough investigation of the death, his Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas, demanded justice.

"I demand the Israeli government punish the killers if it wants peace between the Palestinian and Israeli people," he said in a statement, adding Israel must also "take concrete steps on the ground to stop [revenge] attacks and the chaos caused by the Israeli escalation."

Local police have still not completed the DNA analysis of the corpse found in the woods outside of East Jerusalem early Wednesday. However, the family of the Palestinian teen who had been abducted contend it was him.

"Who else could do this? There's no one else," said the teen's father, Saed Abu Khdeir, according to the Associated Press news agency.

Overnight strikes

The Israeli military reportedly carried out several airstrikes in the northern Gaza Strip overnight, according to the news agency DPA. At least 10 civilians were injured.

The strikes came in response to an attack by Palestinian militants on southern Israel. They were reported to have launched 10 projectiles, including two rockets. A house in the town of Sderot was struck.

Israel has struck the Gaza Strip dozens of times within recent days in response to militant rocket attacks. It contends it has only targeted "terror activity" sites.

Clashes in east Jerusalem

East Jerusalem was the site of violent clashes on Wednesday. Palestinians threw stones and Molotov cocktails at riot police, set tires on fire and a large garbage container. Light rail stations were also torched.

Security forces fired rubber bullets, tear gas and sound bombs on the protesters, injuring dozens of people.

On Tuesday evening, hundreds of angry right-wing Israelis demonstrated in central Jerusalem over the deaths of the three Israeli teenagers, chanting "death to Arabs."

Netanyahu called on all sides "not to take the law into their own hands."

Israeli forces confirmed on Wednesday that they had found a body in a forest west of Jerusalem, but have not formally said it is that of Mohammed Abu Khdeir, who was reported kidnapped from the city's eastern Arab sector before dawn.

The boy's cousin, Saed Abu Khdeir, said relatives had identified the body as that of the missing teenager. They said Khdeir was approached by a car and forced inside before it sped off.

kms/ (AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa)