Prisoners Traded for Shalit Plot New Kidnap
Palestinian prisoners who were freed in the October deal to secure the release of captive soldier Gilad Shalit are plotting to abduct Israeli civilians or soldiers and smuggle them out of the West Bank, the recently retired head of the army’s Central Command told Haaretz.
“We are identifying an increase in plots to carry out kidnap operations,” said Maj. Gen. Avi Mizrahi, who concluded his term last week. “Even when Hamas maintains relative quiet in relations with Israel on the Gaza Strip, there is an understanding that terror strikes can be initiated in Judea and Samaria. In the past there were efforts to murder Israelis and then bargain about the return of their bodies, due to the assessment that a live hostage would be hard to hold in the West Bank. Now there are thoughts about the possibility of kidnapping an Israeli and smuggling him outside the borders of the West Bank. From what we understand, the moment such authorization is given, operatives on the West Bank won’t need to wait for specific orders.”
Mizrahi said the plans to abduct Israelis were not limited to “one or two terror cells.”
Over the past two months, the Israel Defense Forces has detained four Palestinians released in the Shalit deal on suspicion that they have resumed terrorist activity.
When IDF forces killed Popular Resistance Committee head Zahir Kaisi earlier this month, he was with one of the Palestinians released in the Shalit deal, who also died in the Gaza air strike. He was released to the Gaza Strip and not authorized to go home to the West Bank.
For more, go to Haaretz.com
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
