Jerusalem:

A missing Israeli teenager was found dead in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, in what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as a “heinous murder”.

The disappearance of 14-year-old Benjamin Achimer on Friday sparked massive searches and raids on Palestinian villages.

Netanyahu said in a statement that the heinous killing of the boy was a serious crime.

He said Israeli forces were “pursuing the heinous killers and all those who cooperated with them.”

Achimir went missing from the Malachi Hashalom checkpoint near the city of Ramallah on Friday morning.

The Israeli army and security forces said his body was found nearby.

Millions of Israelis live in West Bank settlements that are considered illegal under international law.

The incident comes amid heightened tension in Gaza due to the war between Israel and Hamas.

After Achimir went missing, Israeli security forces and hundreds of volunteers formed a search party.

According to an AFP reporter, on Friday afternoon Jewish settlers who were part of a search operation raided the village of al-Maghair near Malachi Hashalom.

At least one person was killed and 25 wounded, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said on Friday.

Late in the night, the official Palestinian news agency reported that five Palestinians were wounded in another attack by settlers in the village of Abu Falah near Ramallah.

(Other than the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)