Account: Shalit looked tired and bruised after kidnapping
Jihad website posts supposed account of IDF soldier's abduction by Palestinian militants in June, 2006. 'Shalit almost collapsed and suffered from burns on his arms and face,' eyewitness says
Islamic Jihad's website posted Sunday what it said was an account of a Palestinian who had witnessed the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit during a cross-border raid by terrorists on an IDF base near Gaza on June 25, 2006
According to the Palestinian, Shalit was bruised up, but "only a few blood stains could be seen on his clothes". The man said he heard several explosions during the attack: "I heard gunfire and blasts that shook the Israeli army base near the Kerem Shalom crossing, east of Rafah.
"When the noise subsided, I stepped out into my yard to see what was going on. I was certain that Palestinian militants were firing shells toward Israeli settlements in the area, as they often do. I was afraid the Israelis would respond to the attack with an invasion," he said.
According to the Palestinian, from his yard he spotted three armed militants leading Shalit, who was bruised.
"I quickly approached them to offer my assistance," he said.
'I saw a young man with pale skin'
The Palestinian's account coincides with the details given to Shalit's family by IDF Human Resources Directorate head Maj.-Gen. Elazar Stern just hours after the kidnapping.
"I told the family that we know Gilad walked away from the base against his will on his own two feet," Stern said at the time.
According to the Palestinian eyewitness, Shalit almost collapsed and suffered from burns on his arms and face. "The militants who carried the wounded soldier prevented me from approaching and offering him water, but I persisted, and then I saw a young man with pale skin who seemed exhausted," he recounted.
"The militants ordered me to be quiet and told me that the injured man was not a Palestinian militant but an Israeli soldier. I was scared, and as I was leaving the area a vehicle arrived and picked up the wounded Israeli and the three militants."
