Security establishment: No IDF soldiers kidnapped
Report filed by woman soldier saying two people forced soldier into vehicle near Ben Gurion Airport proves false, as army says all troops accounted for. Security establishment instructs forces to resume routine activity
A report received at around noon Thursday claiming that two civilians forced an IDF soldier into a car at an intersection near an Israeli Air Force base adjacent to Ben Gurion International Airport was proven false, as the army said it had no indication that any of its troops had been abducted and that all of them were accounted for.
The security establishment instructed forces to resume their routine activity.
In response to the report, filed by a woman soldier, security forces set up dozens of roadblocks in the greater Tel Aviv area, Petah Tikva and Highway 443. Two helicopters were scrambled as part of the clampdown.
The Israeli dragnet, which began in the early afternoon and lasted into the evening, froze traffic around Ben-Gurion Airport on the highway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
The Palestinian news agency Ma'an reported that a previously unknown organization called "Al-Quds Army" claimed responsibility for abducting an Israeli soldier.
The organization's statement read, "Our resistance fighters captured an Israeli soldier near Ben Gurion airport and withdrew along with the soldier peacefully - later we will give details about the captured soldier.
"We vow before all the martyrs that we will remain loyal to their blood," said the statement, which was sent to Ma'an via email.
Egypt pushes for Shalit's release
A Palestinian security official said the Al-Quds Army, while fairly obscure, was believed to have links to the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah, a foe of the Jewish state.
A driver who was stuck at the entry to Petah Tikva told Ynet, "This is usually a three-minute stretch of road but it took nearly 45-minutes."
Another said that dozens of police cruisers were seen rushing along the Atarot Junction in central Israel.
Winning the return of Israeli captives or even their corpses is a cardinal tenet of the Israeli military, and lopsided prisoner exchanges have been common in the past. Soldiers are trained never to abandon comrades on the battlefield.
The capture of two Israeli soldiers on the Lebanese border by Hezbollah, a Shiite Islamic terror group allied to Hamas, was the trigger that set off the 2006 war in Lebanon. Israel later swapped a notorious Lebanese guerrilla for the remains of the two soldiers, under heavy pressure from the servicemen's families.
Israel already has one soldier being held captive. Sgt. Gilad Shalit was captured by Hamas-allied terrorists three years ago in a cross-border raid from Gaza. Shalit has not been seen since then, and the Red Cross has not been permitted to visit him.
Egypt has been mediating attempts to trade Shalit for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. But negotiations for Shalit's release have been hobbled by Hamas' demand that among those to be freed are many convicts serving time for deadly attacks on Israelis.
Efrat Weiss, Yael Levy, Ali Waked, AP and Reuters contributed to this report
