Militants threaten to kill abducted Jewish settler
A Palestinian militant group today threatened to kill an abducted Jewish settler if Israel does not stop its raid on the Gaza Strip.
The Popular Resistance Committees, which has claimed responsibility for abducting both the settler and an Israeli army corporal, said in a statement that “we are running out of patience”.
Israeli troops entered southern Gaza and planes attacked three bridges and a power station, knocking out electricity in most of the coastal strip early today and stepping up the pressure on Palestinian militants who abducted the 19-year-old Israeli soldier. Israeli authorities have not confirmed the settler’s abduction.
A spokesman for the group, known only as Abu Abir, told the Al-Jazeera satellite TV early today that the settler would be “butchered in front of TV cameras” if the army operation did not stop.
The group told the TV station that the settler’s name was Eliahu Pinchas Asheri, his full name that had not been broadcast in the media so far. The group’s knowledge of this detail led Israeli authorities to believe that the group was holding him, Israel Radio reported.
Asheri’s picture was published alongside the picture of the kidnapped Israeli soldier on the cover of Israeli newspapers Wednesday with the headline “Fear For Their Lives”.
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