Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon spoke to Arutz Sheva after visiting the families of the three kidnapped Israeli students, saying he hoped to come back soon “with good news – news that their sons are on their way back home.”

The visit, he said, was “not easy”, but he added that the families were staying strong in the face of a very difficult ordeal.

Citing the ongoing search – which is predicted to go on for several days – Danon called on the Israeli public to stay patient and “to allow the army and the security service to do its work and to find the people who are guilty and to punish them.