IDF assumes kidnapees are still alive

And again, we must definitely hope they are. In this IDF press brief:

Brigadier General Moti Almoz, the IDF Spokesman, held a press briefing Sunday in which he spoke about the ongoing search for the abducted yeshiva boys: “According to the information in our possession,” he said, “our working assumption is that the boys are alive.”

Almoz said that the political echelon and security forces are making “a supreme effort” to bring back the youths.

On a related note, as the search continues, some underground tunnels were found in the Hevron area:

According to this article:

...the intense searches in the Hevron area have yielded a great deal of information and new discoveries – such as the discovery of a network of tunnels in the Hevron area that the IDF did not know existed.

[...] Among the things soldiers have already found, officials said, is a network of dozens of underground tunnels that were hidden behind furniture, washing machines, and the like. It is not clear what the purpose of the tunnels are, and IDF soldiers are exploring them to see if they lead into the area of the 1948 armistice lines, used for smuggling illegal Palestinians into Israel.

In addition, the army said, soldiers have discovered several bomb-making facilities in private homes, throughout Judea and Samaria, and especially in Hevron.

No surprise, really. That's what happens as a result of handing over the control of the Islamic neighborhoods to the PLO, whom I'm sure the authorities knew perfectly well would allow, encourage and even take part in this themselves.

Update: here's more commentary on the topic from Phyllis Chesler.