(Communicated by the Public Security Ministry Spokesperson)

Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch, this evening (Wednesday, 2 July 2014), updated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the intensive investigation that the Jerusalem District of the Israel Police has been carrying out since the early hours of this morning when the youth's body - Mohammad Abu Khdeir - was found in the Jerusalem Forest.

Minister Aharonovitch emphasized that at this stage all avenues of investigation are being checked and added that the motive for the murder cannot be determined at present. The Minister noted that units in Jerusalem and around the country are being reinforced and asked the public to show restraint and patience at this time in order to allow the investigators to carry out their work.

PM Netanyahu earlier had asked that law enforcement forces work as quickly as possible in order to investigate who is behind the reprehensible murder and what the motive was. The Prime Minister calls on all sides not to take the law into their own hands and noted that Israel is a nation of laws and everyone must act according to the law.