Kidnapping Two Israeli Soldiers, Unknown Group Demands Release Of Palestinian Prisoners

Israeli army illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Israel Defense Forces)

JAKARTA - An unidentified organization calling itself the Freedom Movement claims to have kidnapped two Israeli soldiers.

In an investigative program broadcast by Qatar-based news channel Al-Jazeera on Friday evening, the group said it abducted two officers while they were carrying out a covert security mission outside Israel.

The program featured a video clip of two men, who the kidnappers said were two Israeli soldiers.

One of the two men identified himself as David Ben Rousey, introduced his partner as David Perry, said they were Israeli, citing Daily Sabah.

The movement in September last year made a similar claim, successfully kidnapping two Israeli soldiers. At the time, Israel had no comment on the claim.

According to the kidnappers, David Perry 'was a secret missionary at the Elad settlement association, while David Ben Rousey was a petrochemist. They were kidnapped in two separate operations.

In the video, Ben Rousey pleads for help saying, "Perry is in poor health and describes their situation as dire."

According to the program, the kidnappers said the fate of the two kidnapped Israelis was linked to the release of Palestinians in Israeli prisons. The so-called Freedom Movement is unknown in the Palestinian territories.

The investigative program did not provide additional details about the time and place of the abductions, or the place of their detention. Meanwhile, Israeli officials have not commented.

To note, there are about 4.850 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, including 40 women, 225 children, and 40 administrative prisoners, according to the agency concerned with prisoner affairs.