Israeli man who went missing after entering Palestinian village found safe

A man reported missing on Wednesday night after he entered a Palestinian village in the northern West Bank of his own volition was located unharmed a day later, security services said.

Security forces on Thursday located Ariel resident Yaniv Sardal, 53, according to a joint statement by the police, military, Shin Bet and the Israel Prison Service.

The services did not say which Palestinian village the man reportedly entered or where he was found.

Forces from each of the security services had commenced searches for the missing man overnight, the services said in an earlier statement, adding that a police helicopter and the elite IPS unit Metzada were involved in the operation.

WAFA, the Palestinian Authority’s official news outlet, reported Thursday morning that Israeli forces entered the villages of Kifl Haris and Qira, near the larger Palestinian town of Salfit, which is adjacent to Ariel.

The forces deployed in several areas in the towns and flew surveillance drones overhead, WAFA reported.

Under the 1995 Oslo II Accords between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank is divided into Area A, under full Palestinian control, Area B, under Israeli security control and Palestinian civilian control, and Area C, under full Israeli control.

The land on which Kifl Haris sits is partially under Area B and partially under Area C, while Qira is part of Area B.

Israelis have been repeatedly evacuated from Area A in the last year, and PA security forces have assisted in such extractions more than a dozen times, mainly in cases where Israelis mistakenly entered the area.

Israelis are barred by law from entering Palestinian Authority-controlled areas of the West Bank.