Murder of Eliyahu Asheri

Murder of Eliyahu Asheri
Location	West Bank
Date	June 25, 2006
Attack type	Kidnapping, Shooting attack
Death(s)	a 17-year-old Israeli civilian (Eliyahu Asheri)
Perpetrator	Popular Resistance Committees claimed responsibility

The murder of Eliyahu Asheri was a terror attack which carried out on June 25, 2006, in which Palestinian Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) militants kidnapped, and later murdered the 17 year-old Israeli high school student Eliyahu Asheri.^[1]

The attack occurred only a few hours after the kidnapping of Corporal Gilad Shalit that led to Operation Summer Rains.

Background

Eliyahu Pinchas Asheri (February 2, 1988 – June 25, 2006) was an Israeli student from the settlement of Itamar, in the northern West Bank. He was a student at the religious pre-army Mechina Elisha in Neveh Tzuf.

The kidnapping and the murder

On Sunday, June 25, 2006, Eliyahu was kidnapped while on his way from Beitar Illit to Neveh Tzuf, northwest of Ramallah.

On June 28, the group threatened to execute him if Israel did not suspend its Operation Summer Rains into the Gaza Strip, which took place is in response to the kidnapping of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) corporal Gilad Shalit. Asheri was last seen in the French Hill intersection of Jerusalem.

On June 27, Abu Abir, the spokesman for the Palestinian Resistance Committees, said "[Asheri] is a soldier in a pre-military academy", and that Asheri would be "butchered in front of TV cameras" if Israel did not meet its demands.

Early on June 29, the IDF confirmed it recovered the body of Asheri which had been buried in an open field near Ramallah, shot to death, and possibly the same day he was abducted. The IDF had been led to the site by the murderer, who had been arrested in an IDF raid earlier the same morning.

The perpetrators

The Popular Resistance Committees initially claimed responsibility for the attack, and an initial Shin Bet investigation revealed that the abduction was carried out by a Tanzim cell with links to the PLC, but later it became known that the kidnapping was planned and carried out by Fatah members.

Burial

Asheri was buried on the same day his body was found, during the afternoon hours on the Mount of Olives Jewish cemetery in Jerusalem.

References

1. ^ "Eliyahu Pinhas Asheri". mfa.gov. Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 2006. http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Memorial/2006/Victims/Eliyahu+Pinhas+Asheri.htm. Retrieved 3 April 2011. "June 25, 2006 - Eliahu Asheri, 18, of Itamar was kidnapped by terrorists from the Popular Resistance Committees while hitchhiking to Neveh Tzuf, where he was studying. His body was found on June 29 in Ramallah. It is believed that he was murdered shortly after his kidnapping." 

External links

• Militants hold second Israeli hostage - published on The Guardian on June 28, 2006‎
• Militants threaten to kill abducted settler - published on New York Times on June 28, 2006‎
• Asheri shot in head Sunday immediately after abduction - published on the Jerusalem Post on June 27, 2006
• Debkafile report on abduction - published on debka.com
• Terrorists Threaten to Butcher Kidnapped Teenager on TV - published on israelnn.com
• Israel finds body of missing settler - published on Reuters
• The Asheris Mourn their Son Eliyahu - published on israelnationalnews.com

Persondata
Name	Asheri, Eliyahu
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	February 2, 1988
Place of birth
Date of death	June 25, 2006
Place of death