Despite fears, no Israeli troops kidnapped

Acting on an uncorroborated report about a soldier’s abduction near Lod, security forces mounted a sweeping roadblock effort in the greater Tel Aviv region on Thursday, where car-by-car inspections resulted in massive traffic disruptions.

After initiating an urgent internal check, the Israel Defense Forces said all its troops were accounted for. A previously unknown Palestinian group calling itself the “Al-Quds Army” claimed that it had kidnapped an Israeli soldier Thursday, the Palestinian news agency Ma’an reported. However, the Israel Defense Forces said that other than the single report, it had no indication that any of its troops had been abducted.  Read the full story at HAARETZ.com.