The body of a Palestinian teen was found on Wednesday in a forest near Givat Shaul, a crime believed by many to be a reprisal attack for the kidnap and murder of three Israeli teens last week.

According to witness accounts, Mohammed Abu Khudair, 17, was sitting outside his house in Shufat, East Jerusalem early Wednesday morning when he was suddenly forced into a white car. Friends of the victim who saw the abduction tried to run after the vehicle but failed to stop the car, the LA Times reported.

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Khudair's body was found later, abandoned in a forest west of the city. Police said the body was partially burned and bore evidence of inflicted violence.

Although Israeli police are still investigating the motive and circumstances surrounding the incident, some Palestinians allege that the attack was payback for the murder of three Israeli students in the West Bank, BBC said.

As news of the Khudair's death spread, police were deployed in the neighborhood to contain hordes of angry young Palestinians seeking to vent their rage over the 17-year-old's murder.

Israeli police cordoned off the area as rising tensions resulted in angry riots as groups of protesters burned tires and dumpsters and threw stones at the police.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas demanded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to condemn the kidnapping and murder of the teen publicly, in the same way that he had done so over the killing of the three Israelis.

In response, Netanyahu's office released a statement and called it a "despicable murder."

"Prime Minister Netanyahu calls all sides not to take the law into their own hands - Israel is a law-abiding state and everyone is obliged to act according to it," it said.

Meanwhile, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni was shocked at the incident and took to Facebook to share her thoughts on the matter.

She said that the perpetrators would be given zero tolerance and would be found and punished accordingly.

"This is the difference between Israel and a terrorist organization," she wrote.

TagsPalestine, Israel, Jerusalem, three Israeli teenagers, Mohammed Abu Khudair, Mahmoud Abbas, Benjamin Netanyahu, Tzipi Livni, politics, Civil unrest