By Awad Rajoob
RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - Illegal Israeli settlers kidnapped two Palestinian youths in the city of Jericho, eastern occupied West Bank on Friday evening, Wafa news agency reported.
Armed settlers attacked Adi Husni Al-Najjar and Ramadan Jamil Nassar, both former prisoners, near the town of Al-Auja. The settlers shot at their vehicle's tires before abducting them.
Amjad Al-Najjar, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Prisoners' Society, told Anadolu that the two youths are from the al Fawar camp, southern West Bank.
He added that their families are reaching out to authorities, including the Palestinian-Israeli liaison, to obtain any information about their whereabouts and well-being.
Hassan Mleihat, the general supervisor of the Albaidar Organization for the Defense of Bedouin Rights, cited witnesses who confirmed that “armed men in civilian clothes and a civilian vehicle abducted two youths near Wadi Al-Auja.”
“Settlers abducted two people on the road leading to the village of Al-Auja and took them to an unknown location. A search for them is currently underway, as confirmed by witnesses in the area,” he added.
Israel's internal security service Shin Bet on Thursday warned that rising attacks by the settlers on Palestinians and their property in West Bank could lead to a collapse of national security.
Tensions have been running high across the West Bank since Israel launched a military offensive against the Gaza Strip that has killed over 40,000 Palestinians since last October.
In a landmark advisory opinion on July 19, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land unlawful and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio