Israeli army investigates soldier over Palestinian’s fake abduction
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The Palestinian man was detained while attempting to enter Israel illegally from the occupied West Bank.
PHOTO: AFP
JERUSALEM – The Israeli military said on Jan 25 that it had launched an investigation into a soldier who reportedly fabricated the kidnapping of a Palestinian detainee and demanded ransom from his family.
The Palestinian man had been held at a detention facility when a military police guard photographed him and sent the image to his family, falsely claiming he had been kidnapped, The Times of Israel reported.
In a separate report, Israeli Army Radio said the soldier demanded that the family transfer money in exchange for the detainee’s release.
Confirming the case to AFP, the military said an investigation had been launched but declined to provide details.
“Following the incident, an inquiry has been opened by the Internal Inquiry Unit,” it said in a statement. “We will not provide details of the inquiry while it is ongoing.”
The Palestinian had been detained while attempting to enter Israel illegally from the occupied West Bank, The Times of Israel reported.
Israeli security officials say a significant number of Palestinians from the West Bank attempt to enter Israel illegally, often by climbing over a barrier separating Jerusalem from the Palestinian territory.
They are driven largely by economic hardship and the loss of work permits since the start of the Gaza war, Palestinian officials said. Most of them are arrested, while some have died or been injured fleeing from Israeli forces.
An Israeli parliamentary committee said in October that around 6,000 Palestinians attempted to enter Israel this way in 2025, with about 5,300 arrested.
Israel began building the barrier at the height of the second Palestinian intifada, which erupted in 2002, saying it was needed to maintain security amid suicide bombings in Jerusalem and other Israeli cities.
The barrier cuts into many parts of the West Bank, and Palestinians see it as a land grab and a de facto border that is illegal under international law. They also say the barrier has exacerbated an economic crisis in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967. AFP
