Israeli and Palestinian Authority (PA) officials said they still are investigating the report until they can be absolutely sure that it is false.
The army lifted a gag order on the rumor around 7:00pm Israel-time and announced it so far had found no basis for the report, two hours after foreign media began to publicize it. A spokeswoman for the IDF, defending the gag order even on reporting the rumor of a claimed kidnapping, told an Arutz-7 reporter, "Don't trust the Arab sources."
The rumor caught the foreign media trying to beat the competition after an Arab television station reported around noon that Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terrorists had kidnapped two soldiers in Shechem. After an Arab web site reported that the two had been killed, United Press International told readers of the supposed kidnapping and that the fate of the soldiers was unknown due to confusing reports.
Acting after the initial rumor, the IDF set up a post on Mount Gerizim, overlooking Shechem, and several army jeeps entered the city to search for the soldiers who terrorists claimed had lost their way and abandoned their vehicle.
Arab terrorists lightly injured one IDF soldier during the search, and soldiers fired at Arabs who threw stones at them.
The Palestinian Authority jumped on the bandwagon and claimed it returned to the IDF one of the supposedly lost soldiers.
The army lifted a gag order on the rumor around 7:00pm Israel-time and announced it so far had found no basis for the report, two hours after foreign media began to publicize it. A spokeswoman for the IDF, defending the gag order even on reporting the rumor of a claimed kidnapping, told an Arutz-7 reporter, "Don't trust the Arab sources."
The rumor caught the foreign media trying to beat the competition after an Arab television station reported around noon that Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terrorists had kidnapped two soldiers in Shechem. After an Arab web site reported that the two had been killed, United Press International told readers of the supposed kidnapping and that the fate of the soldiers was unknown due to confusing reports.
Acting after the initial rumor, the IDF set up a post on Mount Gerizim, overlooking Shechem, and several army jeeps entered the city to search for the soldiers who terrorists claimed had lost their way and abandoned their vehicle.
Arab terrorists lightly injured one IDF soldier during the search, and soldiers fired at Arabs who threw stones at them.
The Palestinian Authority jumped on the bandwagon and claimed it returned to the IDF one of the supposedly lost soldiers.