The body of Tiran Fero, the Israeli-Druze teen who was snatched from his hospital bed in Jenin overnight Tuesday by armed Islamic Jihad terrorists, was returned to his family in Israel in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Fero, an 18-year-old high school student, was critically injured while driving in the PA town of Jenin. Due to the critical nature of his injuries, he was evacuated to a hospital in Jenin where he was attached to life support. Terrorists in Jenin who reportedly thought that it was an IDF soldier who had been injured marched into the hospital and in front of his horrified relatives’ eyes, snatched the body, effectively killing him by detaching him from life support.

Following the kidnapping, senior Israeli security officials contacted senior Palestinian Authority officials and talks began to arrange the return of Fero’s body. However, the terrorists demanded the release of Palestinian security prisoners or the bodies of dead terrorists held in Israel, a request that Israel unequivocally denied. Talks stalled and Israeli security officials prepared themselves for the possibility of a military operation in Jenin to retrieve the body.

Meanwhile, the Druze community in Fero’s Israeli Druze-majority hometown of Daliyat al-Karmel became enraged, with thousands protesting in the streets and some blocking Highway 6, a main highway near the town.

Druze citizens threatened to enter Jenin and retrieve Fero’s body themselves and some even threatened to murder PA Arabs if the body was not returned immediately. The threats heightened as armed Druze members kidnapped four PA Arabs from a nearby Arab village and posted videos of the bound captives being threatened with execution. All the Arabs have since been released.

Video: A group of Druze Community armed members (likely ISF personnel) issuing a final warning to the "Jenin Brigades" to hand over the body of a Druze Community member killed in a traffic accident in Jenin City tonight.https://t.co/sUcSl3QGd4 pic.twitter.com/bFfBgNB5tx

— Local Focus – Security Alerts (@LocalFocus1) November 23, 2022

The kidnappings and threats apparently facilitated the stalled talks and overnight Wednesday, an agreement was finally reached between the PA and Israel for Fero’s body to be returned.

Many Israeli applauded the Druze community for their determined action, with one person commenting online: “We received a speed course on how courageous people who don’t wait for others to do the dirty work get up and take action. The Druze are our brothers but they don’t suffer from the disease of ‘morality’ and ‘what will the world say’…they know the laws of the desert in the Middle East and understand that the weak will be devoured.”

Chareidi reporter Yossi Elituv wrote: “What did we learn from our Druze brothers tonight?
Deterrence, and deterrence and again deterrence. Our Yishmaeli cousins don’t relate to peace songs. Only deterrence and fear can impel the murderous human animals to fear the price they and their families and all their immediate surroundings will pay. This is the language spoken in the Middle East even in 2022.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)