Police chief: Kidnapped boy held in West Bank, PA is responsible for his safety

Police Commissioner Roni Alsheich on Friday confirmed that a seven-year-old Arab Israeli boy who was kidnapped outside his home earlier this week was being held in the West Bank, saying the Palestinian Authority must take action to secure his release.

Karim Jumhour was “abducted by criminals to Palestinian Authority[-controlled] areas,” said the police commissioner in his first public comment on the case.

“We view the Palestinian Authority as directly responsible for Karim’s well-being until his safe return to his family and we expect them to take action to fulfill this responsibility,” Alsheich added.

He said the Israel Police were in talks with their Palestinian counterparts to free the abducted child, but did not comment on the motive behind the kidnapping. The Shin Bet security service has also joined the manhunt to locate the missing child and hunt down his captors.

According to Hadashot news, the kidnapping is believed to have been carried out by a crime family over unpaid debts. Other Hebrew media reports said it revolved around a financial fight among the boy’s relatives.

Jumhour was snatched on Tuesday from outside his home in Qalansawe, an Arab city in central Israel.

On Thursday, police said they arrested four suspects. Police said three of the suspects are aged 26, 27 and 41, with no details given about the fourth individual.

On Wednesday, the boy’s family said they received a ransom demand from the kidnappers.

“They asked me for NIS 4 million ($1,090,000) but I don’t want to pay,” Jumhour’s father told the Ynet news website. “I’m waiting for the boy to return home safe and sound.”

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan on Thursday tweeted his concern about the kidnapped boy.

“I am personally supervising and monitoring the efforts to return him to his family and parents, and the Israel Police will do all in its power to ensure that he returns safely,” said Erdan. “Kidnapping a child is a terrible crime and one of the most shocking crimes that exists, and we will not accept such a despicable act.”

Dramatic video footage of the incident shows a white car pulling up outside the Jumhour home and a person inside asking two young boys a question. As they answer, a masked man jumps out of one of the rear doors and pushes Jumhour into the car. The assailant tries to grab the other child, who runs out of reach. The vehicle then drives away from the scene.

“My wife and the whole family are still in shock,” the boy’s father said. “We cannot comprehend what happened. It is good that they didn’t kidnap another child.”

[mappress mapid=”6420″]

Qalansawe’s mayor, Abdel-Basit Salameh, described the incident as “shocking.”

“It is impossible to let something like this pass quietly,” he said earlier this week. “At this stage we have no details on the condition of the boy. We are waiting to hear good news. The most important thing is that the boy is returned.”

Salameh said police have been searching nonstop for the boy and his kidnappers since he was taken.

On Tuesday night, checkpoints were set up near Baqa al-Gharbiya and Umm al-Fahm in the Haifa district.

A large number of police forces and a helicopter were involved in the manhunt.