Traffic all across Israel has ground to a snarl as police are checking cars looking for an IDF soldier that may have been kidnapped today at noon. Stay tuned as we’ll try to update you with the latest news as it becomes available. The police have yet to reveal any details to the press and have not officially mentioned any potential kidnappings.
UPDATE: The Jerusalem Post now reports that there was a nationwide roll call of all soldiers after a female soldier reported seeing 2 civilians forcing a soldier into a car last night near an air force base. A Palestinian group has already claimed to have successfully kidnapped a soldier:
The Palestinian Ma’an news agency reported that a previously unknown group calling itself the “Al-Quds Army” claimed responsibility for the reported capture in a statement sent to it… “A group of our resistance fighters captured an Israeli soldier near Ben Gurion Airport and withdrew with the soldier without incident . we will provide details about the captured soldier later,” the statement quoted on Ma’an’s Web site said.
FINAL UPDATE: False alarm! Thank goodness. Though I must say, having had to slog through all that traffic, I can’t help but be impressed by the efforts expended at saving just one soldier from the fate currently suffered by Gilad Shalit who has been held in captivity by Hamas for just over three years now, without a single visit from the Red Cross.
Naomi
8/13/2009
What?? That would be terrible… but do you have a source for this, or is it conjecture?
ck
8/13/2009
That’s the buzz. There was an article in YNet that implied it but it was pulled and there’s a media blackout in effect.
Zack
8/13/2009
my commander contacted me around 2pm telling me there was an alert about a kidnapping of a soldier in lod and to tell him that i was ok, this is all i have heard, so its not conjecture, but who knows what actually happened.
Jack
8/13/2009
I hope that it hasn’t happened. Oy.
Joshua
8/13/2009
Reports are saying “all clear” now. Looks like an innocent false alarm.
josh
8/13/2009
The Arab Maan propaganda service got caught with its pants down.
Besides reporting on the Jerusalem Army taking credit for the kidnapping, they also reported that the kidnapping occurred in the afternoon, while in fact the soldierette actually saw this in the morning. They also reported that the soldier had phoned home and said that he was captured by unknown people.
LB
8/14/2009
This happens every few months – it just took a bit longer to account for all the soldiers and made the news this time.
Thank G-d nothing happened of course.