The body of an 18-year-old soldier was discovered on the road from Petah Tikva to Lod near Mazor village Thursday night. He was identified as Moshe Levy, of Petah Tikva. He had died as a result of stab wounds. Police said his body had been burned after the stabbing.
Police are trying to establish whether his death was due to terrorist activity. He had reportedly been hitch-hiking home from an IDF base together with another soldier who left the vehicle earlier.
Police have asked the driver of a car, which gave lifts to the two soldiers and let them off at two different places before continuing to Rehovot, to come forward.
Police are also investigating the deaths of two Arabs whose bodies were found Thursday in an avocado orchard of Moshav Sdot Micha seven kilometers southwest of Beit Shemesh, not far from where the bodies of two Jews had been found some months ago.
The murdered Arabs, whose names were not made public, were 29 and 31 years old. They were from Ramallah on the West Bank and from East Jerusalem. One was said to be known to the police as involved in drug traffic. The men had been shot in the head and the chest. They had been carrying identity cards and a large quantity of money.
Police sources said they were investigating both terrorist and criminal motives for the murders, but were “99 percent certain” that the killings were an underworld crime involving drug or gold trafficking.
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