A 16-year-old from Afula on Thursday was rescued by Israel Police after he was kidnapped and held for ransom in a compound in Jaljulya, police revealed on Friday.
The 16-year-old was kidnapped early in the morning as part of a conflict between two criminal groups. His captors published a ransom video demanding hundreds of thousands of shekels.
In the video, the captors could be seen holding a fake sword and a gun to the boy's head, asking him "who sent you?"
Earlier on Thursday, the two groups had clashed in Holon, with shots fired in the incident. Five suspects were arrested during the clash.
According to Walla, the teenager allegedly serves as a "soldier" for criminals and arrived in Holon to torch a business as part of a protection racket. While torching the business, he was caught, beaten and kidnapped.
The boy's lawyer told Walla that he was kidnapped in the street and "he does not belong to any gang and did not do what is attributed to him. This is a 16-year-old kid from a normative family."
The police's Central Unit conducted an intense intelligence effort in order to locate the teenager after receiving information about the incident in the early afternoon.
The unit succeeded to locate the specific compound where the teenager was being held and Yamam counter-terrorism officers and special units of the Border Police, alongside Central Unit detectives, raided the compound and rescued the boy.
Eight suspects were arrested in the raid.