Israeli Police launched a wide-ranging murder investigation
after a young couple on a hiking trip in the Megiddo region
were found dead on Monday. Though located within the former
Green Line, the area is not far from the territories
Northern region police commander Alik Ron said police were
investigating all aspects, including the possibility of a
nationalist motive behind the killing of Yechezkel Shai, 26,
from Kiryat Motzkin, and Sharon Steinmetz, 21, from Neve
Sha'anan in Haifa. Shai was reported to have been a student
at Har Etzion.
The couple went to the region on Sunday and were reported
missing by their parents when they failed to return. Wide
searches were initiated. Their car was found and later the
bodies, which bore signs of terrorist violence. As we go to
press there were no specific leads in the case, but police
believed that the act was committed by terrorists.
