IDF: No missing soldiers
Palestinian groups claim responsibilty for kidnappings that didn't happen
All IDF soldiers are safe and accounted for, after an IDF sweep through the Nablus area Thursday in the wake of Palestinian reports that two or three soldiers had been kidnapped or killed.
The reports, which spread quickly across the Internet from Arab and Western media sources, apparently started with the Al-Aqsa Brigades.
Sources in the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said its members killed the soldiers after they became lost and accidentally drove into Nablus. The Brigade, which is part of Fatah, largely controls the city and its surroundings.
Two groups have taken responsibility for the kidnappings that never happened: The Group of Martyr Ayman Jawdeh, of the Al Aqsa Brigades, and the Jerusalem Brigade, of the Islamic Jihad terror group.
Both groups said the kidnappings and executions were "a response to ongoing Israeli violations."
Palestinian eye-witnesses said that the soldiers were last seen at midday in the city's central square. Witnesses said that the soldiers looked as if they had lost their way.
From this point onwards, versions vary about the fate of the soldiers.
The IDF immediately mobilized large forces into the area and began searching for the kidnapped soldiers.
Palestinian media outlets said that an IDF force, escorted by several jeeps, tanks, and helicopters, conducted searches in Palestinian homes for the soldiers.
A Palestinian security source has told Ynet that it remains unclear whether the soldiers are alive.
Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades: "This is a gift for the heroic prisoners"
Abu Udai, a senior figure in the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, said that his group had committed the kidnap and murder of the soldiers "in response to Israeli violations of the calm."
Udai, who is from the Group of Martyr Ayman Jawdeh said that the soldiers had been killed because "since the Al Aqsa Brigades committed itself to a period of calm, Israel has continued killing Palestinians and damaging their property."
"First of all this is a present to the heroic Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. This is a message for the prisoners and especially to the leadership and people of Israel. You won't have security as long as there are thousands of Palestinian prisoners." he said.
"As long as there is no change, I suggest that the Israelis ignore the promises made by the Palestinian side, because we are the ones who control the ground, and we are committed to fighting the crimes of the occupation and in support of the interests of the people, and most importantly our prisoners."
Abu Udai said his organization had warned that the option to kidnap soldiers could be realized if Israel did not act on the issue of prisoners.
He added: "As long as Israel does not answer our demands for calm the Martyrs Brigades are determined to continue to fight for Palestinian rights, and as long as violations continue the Brigades will answer every violation. We have proven our devotion to resistance."
Nablus is one of the terror capitals of the territories, in which several terror cells operate, most of which are linked to the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military wing of Fatah.
The possibility of kidnapped soldiers is considered by the IDF to be a nightmare scenario, and soldiers are instructed on how to avoid such threats.
At the start of the Palestinian intifada in October 2000, two reserve soldiers had taken a wrong turn into Ramallah. Vadim Norzhich and Yosef Avrahami were brutally murdered by a mob, with the aid of Palestinian police officers. A large number of participants in the lynch were arrested by Israel and received long jail sentences.
Roee Nahimas contributed to this report.
