Israelis hunt teenage suicide bomber

The Israeli army is searching for a Palestinian teenager they fear has been recruited to carry out a suicide attack.

Mohammed Rifai, 15, disappeared from his home in the West Bank Askar refugee camp on Saturday, said his cousin Amjad, a camp leader.

He had been recruited by the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, a militia linked to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement, Amjad said.

He said an Israeli officer told him the boy was recruited to carry out a suicide bombing in one of three Israeli cities - Hadera, Tel Aviv or Netanya. The army said it could not confirm the report.

Amjad said he would do his best to bring his cousin home, even if it meant the boy’s arrest.

"Being in jail is a thousand times better than being in the grave," he said.

Amjad, the Fatah leader in the Askar camp, said his young cousin had been shot in the leg while throwing stones at Israeli tanks last year.

"Mohammed’s just a boy, and he does not know what to do with his life. They should not be doing this," he said.