Israeli settler feared to be kidnapped: report

An Israeli young man from a West Bank settlement was reported missing on Tuesday, a day after a Palestinian militant group claimed abduction of an Israeli citizen, Israel Radio reported.

It is still unclear whether the two events are connected, the report said.

Eliyahu Asheri, 18, who lives in the West Bank settlement of Itamar, disappeared Sunday night when he was trying to hitchhike on the way back to Itamar.

Israeli police said on Tuesday that they are taking the report "very seriously".

Earlier, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) denied claims by the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), a Palestinian militant group, that they had kidnapped an Israeli settler in the West Bank.

"The Palestinians claimed they would present documents belonging to the kidnapped settler. Then we will be able to judge whether the story is true," a senior IDF officer was quoted by local Ha'aretz as saying on Tuesday.

According to a PRC statement, the kidnapping was part of an operation called "Horsemen's Rage", intended to avenge the targeted killing of the group's leaders by Israel.

Israeli security establishment has given several general warnings of kidnapping attempts in the West Bank after the kidnapping of an American citizen in Nablus two weeks ago and a failed attempt to kidnap two settlers while hitchhiking in the West Bank 11 days ago.

The IDF also issued new security instructions for settlers following those kidnapping attempts.

Security officers in West Bank settlements were instructed to supervise hitchhiking spots, while police and the Border Guard intensified patrols in and around settlements.

Source: Xinhua