Ilia Yefimovich
The boy, Mohammad Abu Khieder, was potentially killed as revenge for the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teens, whose bodies were found earlier this week in the West Bank. Police first received reports early Wednesday, after 4 a.m., that a teenager had been pulled into a car, and were quick to set up roadblocks.
"Bushra Abu Khieder, his aunt, said a surveillance camera at her husband's nearby store recorded the scene, which showed a Hyundai car driving toward her nephew," according to the Washington Post. "When it eventually stopped, one of the passengers approached him, asked a question and then grabbed him and pushed him into the car, she said."
Roughly an hour and a half later, his burned body was found on the outskirts of Jerusalem.
Israeli police have yet to confirm what exactly happened to Khieder, but tensions between the region's Arabs and Jews have escalated quickly.
Fighting broke out between Israeli security forces and Palestinians from the boy's neighborhood in the Israeli-annexed eastern part of Jerusalem, which Israel captured during the 1967 Middle East War.
Palestinians tossed firebombs and stones at Israeli police and ransacked area light rail stations. They were met with tear gas, rubber bullets, and smoke grenades from the Israelis, injuring two journalists. Two Israeli journalists were reportedly also attacked by Palestinians.
In addition, the Israeli military said nine rockets were fired at Israel from Gaza on Wednesday, although all landed clear of populated areas. Israel then launched an airstrike on what the military claimed were the launching sites of four of the rockets.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused Kheider's abductors of "killing and burning a little boy," and said that Israel must "hold the killers accountable."
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged police to swiftly investigate the murder and its motive, and asked that both Israelis and Palestinians "not to take the law into their own hands."
"There is no difference between blood and blood," Yishai Fraenkel, Naftali's uncle, told Israeli reporters. "A murderer is a murderer, no matter his nationality and age. There is no justification, no forgiveness and no atonement for any murder."
U.S. National Security Advisor Susan Rice posted this series of tweets following news of the killing.
US strongly condemns the heinous murder of Muhammad Hussein Abu Khdeir in Jerusalem 1/3
- Susan Rice (@AmbassadorRice) July 2, 2014
US sends condolences to his family and Palestinian people 2/3
- Susan Rice (@AmbassadorRice) July 2, 2014
Perpetrators must be brought to justice. US paying close attention to investigation. 3/3
- Susan Rice (@AmbassadorRice) July 2, 2014
Israel's environment minister, Amir Peretz, added that Wednesday's attacks only ignited the still-ongoing conflict with the Palestinians.
"We must uproot and denounce such phenomenon and we must deal with them strongly and unequivocally," Peretz said in a radio interview. "This is now a battle over the character of the state of Israel."