Early this morning, Palestinian gunmen announce they had killed kidnapping victim Eliyahu Asheri. Later in the pre-dawn hours, Israeli soldiers came upon his corpse and it was confirmed to be Asheri. Eliyahu Asheri was 18.
Palestinian terrorists had declared that they were going to kill Asheri in response to the military operation seeking to free both him and Cpl. Gilad Shalit. Israelis, however, said that Asheri had apparently been killed days earlier.
"We promise that this will not be our last attempt," said Abed Aal, also known as Abu Abir, a spokesman for the terrorist conglomerate known as the Popular Resistance Committees. "Operation 'Cavaliers' Wrath' is continuing and there will be more kidnappings. I promise Olmert and Peretz that when they spill Palestinian blood, our only response is through our operation: We will kidnap and kill you and burn the earth beneath you. We promise to drown you in fear and terror." More after the jump.
"The abduction was easy to carry out, and the hostage was alive for two days," continued Abir. "Before we issued the announcement of his kidnap and after, the Israeli security system couldn't decide who the kidnapped person was. Of course this only encourages us to continue the blessed Jihad and we promise more abductions in the near future."
While terrorists claim to have kept Asheri alive for two days, he is believed to have been killed before the Israeli incursion into Gaza, "perhaps soon after his abduction on Sunday," according to the Washington Post. According to Ha'aretz, "Shin Bet agents and special IDF troops found the body buried in a field around 2:30 A.M. Thursday morning, and determined that he had been shot in the head soon after he was kidnapped Sunday."
The question is what comes next. Between the Gaza incident (regardless of whom you hold responsible), the kidnappings, the incursions into Gaza, the power plant strike, the Palestinian claim of firing chemical weapons, and now the murder of Asheri, the situation has gone from terrible to catastrophic. I wish I had an answer.
Sources for this diary: WaPo | Ha'aretz | Yedioth Ahronoth