Israeli soldier fakes kidnapping of Palestinian to extort family

The Israeli military has opened an internal investigation into a soldier accused of fabricating the kidnapping of a Palestinian detainee in an attempt to extort money from the man’s family in the occupied West Bank.

The soldier, who serves as a prison guard in the military police unit, was arrested after the Palestinian family notified Israeli police about the kidnapping and the ransom demand for their relative’s release, Israeli Army Radio reported on Sunday. 

According to the report, the soldier took a photograph of the young Palestinian detainee and sent it to his family, falsely claiming he had abducted the man and asking for payment. 

The detainee had been arrested while attempting to enter the occupied territories without a permit and was being held at an army detention facility near the Gush Etzion settlement in the West Bank, where the alleged staged kidnapping took place. 

“The soldier from the military police unit faked the kidnapping incident to get money from the Palestinian family,” the report said. 

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Initially, Israeli officials thought the incident was part of an overall increase in settler violence in the West Bank. 

However, further investigations into the detainee’s phone revealed that he was still in Israeli custody, redirecting the focus of the inquiry onto the soldier involved. 

The suspect is currently under questioning, and the military’s internal investigations unit has launched a formal probe into the case.

The incident comes amid a sharp increase in Israeli military and settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

After the launch of Israel's genocidal war in Gaza on October 7, 2023, Israeli forces and settlers sharply escalated attacks across the West Bank and occupied al-Quds, with Palestinian rights groups documenting thousands of raids, mass arrests, home demolitions, and settler assaults.

Israeli settlers carried out more than 4,700 attacks across the West Bank in 2025 alone, resulting in deaths, injuries, and the forced displacement of entire Bedouin communities.

The Palestinian detainee targeted in the alleged extortion attempt is among more than 9,000 Palestinians currently held in Israeli prisons.

Over 9,350 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons as of early January: Rights groups

Palestinian prisoners’ rights groups say more than 9,350 Palestinian prisoners are being held in Israeli detention centers across the occupied territories.

A recent report by Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem has documented widespread physical and psychological abuse of Palestinian detainees.

“The Israeli regime has turned its prisons into a network of torture camps for Palestinians, as part of a coordinated onslaught intended to destroy Palestinian society as a collective,” Yuli Novak, B'Tselem's executive director said.

“The genocide in Gaza and the ethnic cleansing in the West Bank are the most blatant manifestations of this policy,” he added.

According to Palestinian figures, more than 100 Palestinian detainees have lost their lives in Israeli custody since October 2023, with many Gazan prisoners still subjected to enforced disappearance.

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