Israeli army receives report of kidnapping operation in northern West Bank

BETHLEHEM - Ma'an - The Israeli army announced on Monday evening that it had received a report of an Israeli "kidnapping" in the northern West Bank, and said that it had summoned its forces to the area and begun searching. He added, in a brief statement, that he "summoned several forces to the site, where they closed the roads" and began "combing operations in the area." Earlier, a Channel 14 correspondent reported that a woman opened the back door of a vehicle traveling at the Tapuach Junction near Nablus and shouted in Hebrew: "Help." He added that the Israeli army forces set up military checkpoints near the Za'tara checkpoint in Nablus and closed roads in the area after suspecting that an Israeli woman had been kidnapped. The Israeli Army Radio reported that "an Israeli citizen informed the security forces about a car with a Palestinian license plate that was driving in the Tapuah Junction area." This citizen claimed that "the car door was opened and a scream was heard asking for 'help', while the car continued driving." According to Army Radio, "Meanwhile, large forces of the Israeli army are closing roads, setting up checkpoints and conducting combing operations throughout the area." Israeli media quoted security sources as saying, "Currently, the Israeli army does not know whether there was a kidnapping incident or not, because the matter depends only on this report." He added, "Combing operations are continuing at this time." Source: Maan News Agency