Brussels, 30th June, 2014 – European Coalition for Israel expresses its condolences to the families of the three murdered Israeli teenagers, Gilad Shaar,Naftali Frenkel and Eyal Yifrach. The three students were kidnapped by terrorists on the evening of June 12 as they returned home from school.
Their bodies were discovered on Monday near the site of their abduction.
Israeli authorities have evidence that the abduction was done by members of the Islamist Hamas movement which has recently entered into agreement with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbasand his Fatah Group.
In a statement in Helsinki on Monday evening ECI director Tomas Sandell called upon the European Union to halt all financial support for the Palestinian Authority until Hamas is excluded from all government bodies.
Last week ECI joined a solidarity rally in Brussels together with the Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders and local community leaders to condemn the kidnapping of the three students as well as similar kidnappings in Nigeria. The speakers rejected the use of violence in the name of religion and emphasized that terrorism seeks to undermine the universal values and the fundamental rights recognized by the international community.