Side-by-side graves of the slain teens. Photo: Channel 2/Screenshot.

JNS.org – The murder of the three Israeli teens last month was likely premeditated and the killers probably did not want to hold them hostage, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) believes.

A U.S. official, who was part of the FBI probe into the murders, received an audio recording of the call by Gilad Shaar because one of the slain teens, Naftali Frenkel, was a U.S. citizen.

According to the official, the use of a silencer on the gun—which was fired 10 times at the teens—led the FBI to conclude that the murders were premeditated, Reuters reported.

Israeli and Palestinian officials had initially believed that the killers, later identified as Hamas operatives Amer Abu Aysha and Marwan Kawasme, had planned to take the teens hostage but instead killed them due to panic after the phone call topolice was made by Shaar. Israeli security officials declined to comment on the FBI claim.