Israeli officials announced on Monday that the bodies of three Israeli teenagers who were kidnapped in the West Bank earlier this month have been found. Israeli officials confirmed the boys were found near the city of Hebron.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his nation’s grief over the news of the boys’ murders.

“With heavy grief, this evening we found three bodies. All signs indicate that they are the bodies of our three abducted youths –- Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar and Naftali Frankel,” Netanyahu said before the start of an emergency cabinet meeting.

“They were abducted and murdered in cold blood by human animals. On behalf of the entire Jewish people, I would like to tell the dear families –- the mothers, fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers, and brothers and sisters –- we are deeply saddened, the entire nation weeps with you. We will give the boys a proper burial.”

One of the teenagers, 16-year-old Naftali Frenkel, had dual U.S.-Israeli citizenship and has family in New York City.

The United States’ initial response to the news has been tepid.

The State Department briefing began about 20 minutes after news broke of the Israeli teenagers’ bodies being found.

Spokesperson Jen Psaki urged “continued security cooperation” between the Israelis and Palestinians, despite “the tragedy and the enormous pain on the ground as a result.”

She would not speculate on how the U.S. interaction with the new Palestinian unity government might change in light of this news.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces are on alert and are prepared to attack Hamas over the killings.

**Update- Israel has started bombing Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets

“Hamas is responsible, and Hamas will pay…As a father, I cannot imagine the indescribable pain that the parents of these teenage boys are experiencing,” he said in a statement. “The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms this senseless act of terror against innocent youth.” –Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu