Israeli anger

At the Shavei Hebron Yeshiva, a religious school in Hebron that was attended by 19-year-old Eyal Yifrach, one of the three Israeli youths found dead on Monday, students were dealing with their grief amid preparations for the funeral.

Alongside the yeshiva, nearly 800 Jewish settlers live directly among 250,000 Palestinian residents in an area that was the center of the search for the dead teenagers.

Michael Zivan, 20, one of the 350 students attending the yeshiva, was visibly shaken by the news. He shared a room in the religious school with Eyal Yifrach.

He told DW of losing his friend who he said had a strong personality and described as a leader and a brother. "This still feels very fresh - there was a lot of hope that Eyal would be coming back to the yeshiva. Although he will not be coming back to the yeshiva his spirit remains in the yeshiva meaning that every effect he had on the guys around the yeshiva will continue. This looks like a Jewish loss, but it's the loss of everybody," he said.

Anger and grief

Students are receiving counseling within the yeshiva, from older and former students. "Not only the room and the yeshiva will miss him, but the terrorists took away someone the whole world is going to miss," said Zivan.

There are signs of Eyal everywhere in the yeshiva - his religious work book sits neatly at what was his desk inside the religious school; his bed it still in place in the shared men's quarters and his toothbrush still hangs in the bathroom where it was left.

While showing DW around, Misha-El Rubin, Rabbi and teacher at the yeshiva, held up his iPhone showing a Facebook page, purportedly of a Palestinian student. "This is a profile of a student named Morad Abuisha studying in the Technion in Haifa and his status says 'Palestine has scored three goals without being in the World Cup' - this is an example of the encouragement of terrorism."

Rubin said the news had been "bitter" for the community. "Yesterday when we received the news the boys mostly prayed - these prayers are not being made in vain, the primary goal of this place is to grow and become better Jewish people. The educational staff are hurting very much - on the one hand we're feeling the pain inflicted on us, but on the other hand we're trying to grow and evolve from it to make us stronger," he said.

"The families gave the people of Israel a great sense of unity - we hope the strengths that have been revealed in the past days will also strengthen the government to face the challenges."

Hardline reaction

David Wilder, spokesman for the Jewish settlers in Hebron, called on Israel to "eradicate evil - all of the terror, anybody who associates with the terror. I include in that Palestinian President Abu Mazen, who made a unity pact with Hamas, people who make unity pact with terrorists are terrorists - their goals are the same. Enough of the hugging, kissing let's be friends, it's all a show and has to come to an end," he said.

Wilder, who is know for his outspoken views as a settler, told DW the land belonged to the Jewish people. "This land belongs to us; there are no questions about that - the Jews are indigenous to this land. We will do anything and everything to push the Israeli government, those that are making the decision to take all of the steps necessary. This has to be our response, the goals of the terrorists are to move us out of the whole of Israel," said Wilder.

The Gush Etzion Junction, where the trio were last seen before they went missing, was alive with media and at a bus station immediately across from the site, Israelis, including settlers, were waiting for buses and hitchhiking for rides.

Wilder said all of the members of the settler community hitchhike and they would not give up hitchhiking even if it puts their youth at risk.

"If the world doesn't like it that's their problem - we will not change our lives because of terror. Terror will not dictate how we live, why we live, what we do - if a parent wants to say I don't allow you to hitch, here's money for a bus I don't have any problem with that but we will not change the way we live because of terror, we won't give that victory."

Wilder denied that the lives of Palestinians living in Hebron were disrupted in the wide-scale search of homes by the Israeli Defence Force.

"We saw them walking around - their lives weren't disrupted. The Allah Akbah that goes off five times a day continued," he said.

"If people did have to suffer what they have to do is turn to their own people and say stop. When we are attacked again and again and again then the state of Israel has to do anything and everything to protect its people," he said.