Israel Police launched an investigation on Thursday into the death of a 20-year-old whose body was found near the natural spring Lifta in Jerusalem.
Medics from the Magen David Adom ambulance service that arrived on the site pronounced him dead on the spot.
"When we arrived at the scene, we saw the injured man lying down unconscious," said an MDA medic. "We conducted a series of medical tests but the injury was severe and we had to pronounce him dead."
The police stated that the victim's identity was unknown and that they were investigating whether there was foul play involved. IDF soldiers were deployed to search the area and collect evidence.
The Lifta natural spring is named after an abandoned Arab village near Jerusalem. The residents of Lifta left their homes on an order from the Arab Higher Committee in December 1947 with the breakout of hostilities that escalated to a full-blown war surrounding the establishment of Israel.
The settlement was repopulated by members of al-Najjada, a Palestinian paramilitary scout movement, who carried out attacks against neighboring Jewish neighborhoods and Jewish travelers making their way to Jerusalem. They eventually withdrew from the village two months later and the houses were seized by fighters of the Jewish paramilitary group Lehi.
The natural spring nestled between the hamlet's abandoned homes is a popular destination for young religious Jewish men who use it as a mikveh.