IDF detains two American brothers during raid in Gaza, family says
Israeli forces have detained two young adult American brothers and their Canadian father in in Gaza in an overnight raid on their home in the besieged Palestinian territory, relatives of the men said.
A US Embassy official in Jerusalem reached by telephone from Washington said American officials were aware of the situation and were following up with Israeli authorities.
The embassy official gave no details and ended the call without giving her name. The Israeli foreign ministry and military had no immediate comment.
Borak Alagha, 18, and Hashem Alagha, 20, two brothers born in the Chicago area, are among fewer than 50 US citizens known to still be trying to leave sealed-off Gaza, as the Israel-Hamas war entered its fifth month.
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American officials are aware of the situation and are following up with Israeli authorities (ABIR SULTAN/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)Numerous other US green-card holders and close relatives of the citizens and permanent residents also are still struggling and unable to leave, despite U.S. requests, according to their American families and advocates.
Cousin Yasmeen Elagha, a law student at Northwestern University, said Israeli forces entered the family home in the communityof al-Muwasi, near the southern city of Khan Younis, around 5am Gaza time Thursday.
Elagha's cousins, 18-year-old Borak Alagha and 20-year-old Hashem Alagha, were born near Chicago
The two American brothers, their Canadian citizen father, a mentally disabled uncle and two other adult male relatives were taken away by the Israeli forcesThe soldiers tied up and blindfolded the women and children in the family, and placed them outside the home, the cousin said.
The two American brothers, their Canadian citizen father, a mentally disabled uncle and two other adult male relatives were taken away by the Israelis, and remain missing, Elagha said.
Men of a neighbouring household were also taken away. So were other adult male relatives of another Alagha household, for a total of about 20 detained, the U.S. cousin said.
The Alagha brothers’ family says they are among those who have been unable to get their names on the exit listsPam Damoff, MP for Oakville North-Burlington, said: "We are aware of a missing Canadian citizen and members of his family in Gaza. Our embassy is providing consular assistance to their family. We are in contact with relevant partners in the region, including Israel, to verify reports of their detention."
U.S. officials say they have helped 1,300 Americans, green-card holders and their eligible close family members to leave Gaza since Oct. 7, when surprise Hamas attacks killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in Israel. Hamas also took about 250 hostages, with several dozen still being held in Gaza.
More than 27,000 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, have been killed in the ongoing Israeli military offensive in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials in the Hamas-ruled territory.
The only authorised exit from Gaza is through the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt. The exit list is controlled by Israel and Egypt., with authorities saying they are working with the two U.S. allies to get more of the n ames of Americans, U.S. residents, and their close kin who are seeking to leave placed on the list.
Israeli forces entered the family home early on ThursdayThe Alagha brothers’ family says they are among those who have been unable to get their names on the exit lists. Israeli security forces in the course of the war have rounded up large numbers of Palestinian military-age men in Gaza, later releasing some.
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A lack of response from the U.S. State Department has prompted the brother's Chicago-area family to launch a lawsuit against the agency, accusing them of failing to protect and evacuate the pair from Gaza
"The U.S. government has left them totally forgotten in Gaza," Yasmeen said at the time of the announcement of the suit in December.
According to Israel, they believe the mass detentions are a "necessary" part of fighting Hamas. While those in Palestine think Israel is unjustly including large numbers of civilian adult males in the sweeps.
In the occupied West Bank, meanwhile, a 46-year-old Palestinian American woman, Samaher Esmail, was taken from her home on Monday and detained. The Israeli military said she had been arrested for “incitement on social media” and held for questioning.
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