The Israeli military is known for leaving no stone unturned when it comes to hunting out suspects on its 'most wanted list', so it came as little surprise for villagers in the Palestinian village of Al-Majaz when the IDF came out for a night time raid. But what no one can quite figure out is why the subjects of all this attention were neither protestors nor, in fact, people at all.
However, according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Mahamra's celebrations were short-lived as, just two and a half hours after their birth, a group of soldiers showed up and confiscated livestock, loading them onto a Hummer. Mahamra's donkey, which had been harnessed to a water container on wheels, also disappeared.
After the mysterious incident, Ezra Nawi, a member of the Ta'ayush nudniks - a group of Israeli activists in the southern West Bank – reportedly contacted the District Coordination Office (DCO) on Mahamra's behalf to get to the bottom of the animals' disappearance.According to Nawi, dozens of locals tried to help unravel the mystery by calling the office after seeing the story on Facebook.
Under increasing pressure, a DCO officer finally admitted that the animals had indeed been confiscated by Israeli soldiers.
Nawi claims that, at one stage, he and Mahamra were told the goat and her kids had been returned to the area.
But despite the assurances, the pair claim the animals still haven't been returned.
After putting the accusations to the military, the IDF Spokesman's Office told Haaretz: "The claims raised do an injustice to the truth of the matter. In this case, a shepherd entered a closed firing zone with the aim of stealing ammunition. The animals weren't confiscated but were brought by the IDF forces to the tent area from which the shepherd came in order to return them to their owner."
But with Mahamra denying the accusations and claiming the animals were never returned, the mystery of the IDF goats looks set to continue.
