An Israeli civilian was abducted and killed by a Palestinian armed group last week, Israeli media revealed on Monday evening.
Authorities requested the incident not be reported, for fear that the media exposure could hamper efforts to find him alive.
The victim was named Sasson Nuriel, a resident of Jerusalem’s Pisgat Zeev neighborhood who had business contacts with Palestinians.
The Israeli army has arrested 360 suspected members of armed Palestinian factions since the weekend.
Israeli soldiers found Nuriel’s body inside a bag near Ramallah.
Police said Nuriel was kidnapped and taken to an apartment in Ramallah where he was killed.
The Palestinian Hamas organization assumed responsibility for the abduction and the killing. Hamas officials said in an announcement that they wanted to use Nuriel as a bargaining chip to release Palestinian prisoners, but added that “the large wave of arrests by the occupation in the West Bank against our people forced members of the unit to kill him.”
Meanwhile, the escalation between Israelis and Palestinians is continuing after more than 40 missiles were launched from Gaza onto Israeli communities over the weekend.
An additional two missiles were launched on Monday night.
Military aircraft targeted several members of Palestinian armed groups in Gaza on Monday.
Palestinian officials say Israel’s resumption of targeted killings is obstructing any future progress in the peace process.
Spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry Mark Regev told The Media Line that Israel’s response has good reason. “We pulled out of Gaza completely less than two weeks ago and now the Palestinians are firing from Gaza into Israel,” Regev said. “It was something we couldn’t tolerate, it’s something we couldn’t accept and something we were forced to respond to.”