JERUSALEM: A new HBO series on the killing of a Palestinian youth after three Israeli teens were murdered in a deadly summer five years ago is stirring up painful memories for bereaved families on both sides of the conflict.

鈥淥ur Boys,鈥� which premiered in Israel and the US last week, centers on Mohammed Abu Khdeir, a 16-year-old Palestinian who was abducted near his East Jerusalem home and burned to death by three Israelis, two of them also teenagers, in July 2014.

鈥淚 wish I could reach into the screen and grab hold of my son,鈥� Abu Khdeir鈥檚 mother, Suha, told Reuters, her voice breaking, soon after watching the first two episodes of the series, a co-production of HBO and Israel鈥檚 Keshet International and produced by Movie Plus.

鈥淭he show brought me right back to the pain, to the day he was kidnapped,鈥� she said.

Prosecutors said Abu Khdeir鈥檚 convicted killers were avenging the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teens 鈥� Naftali Frankel, Gilad Sha鈥檈r and Eyal Yifrach 鈥� in the occupied West Bank two weeks earlier by members of Hamas.

The deaths of the four youths spiraled into a seven-week war between Israel and Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip.

HBO鈥檚 10-episode dramatization dissects Israel鈥檚 internal investigation into the three ultra-Orthodox Jews eventually convicted of Abu Khdeir鈥檚 murder and the frantic initial days after his parents learned of his disappearance and death.

The Hebrew- and Arabic-language series was written, directed and produced by two Jewish Israelis and an Arab Israeli, who mix documentary footage with live production to delve into the micro details they say drive the conflict.

鈥淲e live in an extremely nuanced world where wars erupt because of tiny things,鈥� co-director Joseph Cedar, 50, said in an interview alongside collaborators Hagai Levi and Tawfik Abu Wael. 鈥淲e tried to peel back the layers of this hate crime,鈥� he said.

But some bereaved Israeli families have said the show largely glosses over the murder of the three Israeli teens, who are referenced throughout the series but not included as characters.

Two Hamas suspects in the murders were killed in a 2014 shootout and in 2015 an Israeli court sentenced a third Hamas member to three life terms for the teens鈥� abduction and murder.

Levi said the creators felt they had portrayed the context of Abu Khdeir鈥檚 killing. 鈥淏ut the crime is the story,鈥� he said.