United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday condemned the murders of Israeli teenagers Eyal Yifrah, Gilad Sha’ar and Naftali Frenkel, while Israel’s ambassador to the UN called on the Security Council to issue a condemnation as well.

“The Secretary-General condemns in the strongest terms the murder of the three Israeli teenagers abducted on 12 June in [Judea and Samaria],” a statement from Ban said.

“There can be no justification for the deliberate killing of civilians,” said the UN chief, who said he “hopes Israeli and Palestinian authorities will work together to bring the perpetrators swiftly to justice, and extends his deepest sympathy to the families of the victims.”

“The Secretary-General believes this heinous act by enemies of peace aims to further entrench division and distrust and to widen the conflict. It must not be allowed to succeed. He calls on all parties to abide by their obligations under international law and to refrain from any actions that could further escalate this highly tense situation,” said the UN statement.

Meanwhile, in a statement of his own, Israeli UN ambassador Ron Prosor demanded that Ban press the Security Council to condemn the murder of the three youths.

“In the past few weeks, Israel has come under attack and felt the bitter devastation that comes with Hamas in a Palestinian government,” said Prosor.

“Since the formation of the unity government, over 70 rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel.

“Israel’s leaders have been very clear: we are prepared to take all necessary measures to protect our citizens from Hamas terror. Those who target Israelis with terrorism today will pay a very heavy price tomorrow. The Israeli government has a right and a duty to protect its citizens,” he added.

“The international community can no longer remain silent as the citizens of Israel are mercilessly murdered and terrorized,” said Prosor.