IDF recovers body of missing Israeli teenager in West Bank
The body of a missing 14-year-old Israeli boy was found by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank on Saturday after an intense search during which Jewish settlers stormed a nearby Palestinian village.
The Israel Defense Forces announced that the body of slain teen Benjamin Achimeir had been found, one day after the Jerusalem boy went missing while tending sheep in the Palestinian enclave.
The military said that Benjamin had been “murdered in a terrorist attack” and that the Israeli intelligence agency Shin Bet and police were investigating the slaying.
During the extensive 24-hour search, Jewish settlers armed with guns and stones stormed the Palestinian village of alMughayyir, prompting Israeli troops to intervene.
A Palestinian man was shot and killed and at least 25 other people injured during the disturbances. It was not clear whether the bullet that killed Jehad
Abu Alia, 26, was fired by a soldier or a civilian.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society said at least eight people were hit by gunfire.
Israeli officials urged the public not to take the law into its own hands.
“I am saddened by the death of the boy Binyamin Achimair, who was murdered in cold blood by a vile terrorist,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Saturday on X. “The security system will reach the murderer and bring him to justice, as we have done with every terrorist and murderer.”
Gallant appealed to the public to “let the security forces act quickly in the hunt for the terrorists ... the law must not be taken into one’s hands.”
Achimeir was last seen early Friday morning, according to the IDF. The teenager set out with a herd of sheep from a farm near Malachei Shalom, an outpost on the West Bank near al-Mughayyir and northeast of Ramallah.
The sheep returned to the farm without the child.
“The abominable murder of the boy Binyamin Achimair is a serious crime. I send my heartfelt condolences to his family,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Netanyahu said in a statement.