Israeli soldier accused of fake kidnapping to extort Palestinian family

An Israeli soldier has been accused of attempting to extort money from a Palestinian family in the occupied West Bank, according to reports by Middle East Eye on January 25th.

According to an Israeli Army Radio report, the soldier allegedly orchestrated a fake kidnapping of an already detained Palestinian, presented the situation as a genuine threat to their relatives, and pressured the family into paying a ransom.

The soldier, who works as a prison guard in the army’s military police unit, was taken into custody after the family alerted Israeli police. According to the report, he photographed the young Palestinian detainee, sent the picture to the family, and demanded a ransom, claiming he had abducted the man.

The Palestinian detainee had been arrested while trying to enter Israel without a permit and was taken to an army detention facility near the Gush Etzion settlements, where the fake kidnapping plot allegedly occurred. “The soldier from the military police unit faked the kidnapping incident to get money from the Palestinian family,” the report said.

Israeli authorities initially feared the incident was linked to a recent surge in settler attacks in the West Bank. But when they traced the man’s phone, they discovered he was already in Israeli custody. The soldier is now being questioned, and the army’s internal investigations unit has launched a formal probe into the case.

This incident comes against the backdrop of a steep rise in both army and settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. Israeli army figures released earlier this month documented 845 settler‑related attacks over the past year, a 25 per cent jump from the 675 cases recorded in 2024.

According to the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, settlers have killed at least 21 Palestinians since October 2023, with none of the perpetrators held to account.

The Palestinian man targeted in the alleged ransom scheme is among more than 9,000 Palestinians currently imprisoned by Israel. A recent B’Tselem report detailed extensive physical and psychological abuse of Palestinian detainees.

Yuli Novak, the organisation’s executive director, said: “The Israeli regime has turned its prisons into a network of torture camps for Palestinians, as part of a coordinated onslaught intended to destroy Palestinian society as a collective.” She added that “the genocide in Gaza and the ethnic cleansing in the West Bank are the most blatant manifestations of this policy.”

According to the report, at least 84 Palestinians, including one child, have died in Israeli custody since October 2023. Of those, 50 were from the Gaza Strip, 31 from the West Bank, and three were Palestinian citizens of Israel.

 

Middle East Eye and agencies, Maghrebi.org