The body of a young Jewish settler abducted by Palestinian militants in the West Bank in Gaza earlier this week has been found dead.

The Israeli army found the body of eighteen-year-old, Eliyahu Asheri, near Ramallah. Reports from Israeli military sources say he died from a single bullet wound to the head.

Earlier Israel's Army Radio reported that Asheri had been killed by the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), a Palestinian militant group who showed a photocopy of his ID at a Gaza City conference on Wednesday after he was reported missing.

The group threatened to kill the young man unless Israel ceased with its Gaza offensive.