The body of a 17-year-old Israeli is being held by armed Palestinian Arab terrorists in the city of Jenin, it was cleared for publication on Tuesday night.
The Israeli has been identified as Tiran Fero, a 12th grade student from the Druze town of Daliyat el-Karmel, southeast of Haifa.
The Israeli was seriously injured in a car accident in the area and was evacuated by the Red Crescent to a hospital in the city, where he was pronounced dead.
When it became known that he was an Israeli citizen, terrorists took his body and are now holding it.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades announced that the body was in their possession and that they had taken it from the hospital. As proof, they presented a photocopy of his identity card.
Efforts are currently underway to secure the release of the body. As part of these efforts, Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, the head of the Druze community in Israel, held talks with a number of officials, including Jenin governor Akram Al-Rajoub and senior officials in the Palestinian Authority.
Sheikh Tarif demanded that Fero’s body be returned to his family immediately.
The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said that "a young Israeli citizen entered the area of the city of Jenin yesterday with another citizen, through the Gilboa crossing. The two were involved in a serious car accident and were taken to a local hospital for medical treatment, where one of them died of his injuries."
"His friend was taken to medical treatment in Israel in serious condition. The young man's body was taken from the hospital in Jenin and it is expected that it will be returned to his family in Israel as soon as possible, as a necessary humanitarian measure," the statement said.
In the wake of the incident, all the crossings in the Jenin area have been closed as of Wednesday morning and workers from the area are not being permitted to enter Israel.