Israeli kidnapped - as yet unconfirmed by Israel

West Bank militants say they kidnapped Israeli

NABLUS, West Bank (Reuters) - West Bank militants claimed on Sunday to have kidnapped an Israeli man who said in a videotaped statement that his captors would kill him if Israel did not free Palestinian prisoners.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which issued a copy of the tape, said the man was kidnapped near the West Bank city of Nablus. The group said he was an Israeli.

There was no immediate confirmation of a kidnapping and the Israeli army was checking the report. Militants have made false claims about kidnappings before, but have never produced videos showing abductees.
T
he man in the tape appeared to be in his 20s and held up an identity card from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem which gave his name as Benjamin Bright-Fishbein. He wore the skullcap of a religious Jew.

"If the prisoners are not released, they will execute me," he said in Arabic.
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades is part of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement.

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