Tense hours unfolded Thursday morning in the IDF's Judea and Samaria Division after about 10 Breslov Hasidim entered the Palestinian village of Mukhamas in the Binyamin region overnight, and the vehicle they were traveling in was later found abandoned and badly damaged.
Large IDF, Israel Police, and Shin Bet forces were dispatched to the scene. At one point, security forces sealed off the village amid fears that the passengers had been abducted or harmed.
The incident began around 4:00 a.m. Thursday morning, when the Israelis reported that they were inside the Palestinian Authority village and felt threatened. Shortly afterward, their vehicle was discovered abandoned, smashed, and containing personal belongings, prompting security officials to treat the incident as a possible terrorist attack and deploy large numbers of forces, including special units and helicopter support.
During the search operation, roads in the area were closed and the village was placed under lockdown. At approximately 6:40 a.m., one of the civilians informed authorities that all of the vehicle's passengers had managed to leave the village unharmed. Nevertheless, security forces continued searching the area to rule out any security-related incident.
Footage released from Mukhamas showed the vehicle almost completely destroyed, with shattered windows and the Hasidim's hats left on the seats - images that heightened fears over the passengers' fate.
Police later said several of the hasidim were detained for questioning. A police statement outlined the sequence of events.
"During a routine patrol before dawn on Route 60 near Sha'ar Binyamin, Judea and Samaria District police officers observed a vehicle committing a serious traffic violation by crossing a solid dividing line," police said. "The officers pursued the vehicle, which continued fleeing and entered the Palestinian village of Mukhamas."
"The pursuing patrol saw the vehicle enter a narrow alley. Due to the nature of the area, the officers stopped, immediately reported the incident, and called in IDF forces to conduct searches. A short time later, the police emergency hotline received calls from two civilians claiming they had been in the vehicle and had exited the village," the statement added.
The IDF said: "Earlier this morning, Israeli security forces were dispatched to the area of Mukhamas and began extensive searches following a report regarding several Israeli civilians that had been in the area and lost contact."
"Following searches and a joint multi-agency intelligence effort by the Israeli security forces in the area of Mukhamas, all of the civilians were located, and the concern of a security incident was ruled out."