The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed early Thursday that Eliyahu Asheri, an Israeli teenager kidnapped by Palestinian militants on Sunday, has been found dead in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

The teen's parents have been notified of his death after IDF soldiers discovered early Thursday the body of 18-year-old Asheri, the IDF said.

Israeli security forces on Wednesday arrested an operative from the Palestinian Popular Resistance Committees, who had been allegedly involved in the kidnapping. The operative led the forces to a mountainside in Ramallah, where Asheri's body was found buried.

Spokesman of the West Bank settlement of Itamar Chief Rabbi Avi Ronsky said that Asheri was shot in the head immediately after the kidnapping.

Asheri, who lives in Itamar, disappeared Sunday night when he was trying to hitchhike on the way back to Itamar.

The Popular Resistance Committees claimed on Monday that it had kidnapped a Jewish settler in the West Bank.

A spokesman for the group in the Gaza Strip revealed a copy of Asheri's identity card to the press Wednesday morning, confirming that the card holder had been kidnapped.

Source: Xinhua