Armed gangs in the Gaza Strip, operating mainly in Israeli-controlled areas, abducted two Palestinians from their home at dawn on Thursday after a force infiltrated an area east of the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.
The abductees, cousins from the Issa family, prompted their relatives to appeal to the Red Cross to contact Israel and try to determine their fate. Armed gangs that abduct Palestinians in Gaza are known to hand them over to Israel, as has happened in several cases.
Some were later released after it was established that they had no links to any Palestinian faction.
Torture and abduction
Field sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that one of the abductees belonged to a prominent Palestinian faction and was seized from his home along with his cousin, more than 800 meters (875 yards) from the boundary of the “Yellow Line.”
Bloodstains were found at the site of their abduction, suggesting that the two men may have been wounded or subjected to interrogation and torture, the sources said. They added that the operation took place in an area considered relatively vulnerable to security breaches.
Some of the home’s contents were stolen, the sources said, adding that the operation was carried out under the cover of Israeli drones that fired in various directions across the area.
The sources said armed gangs have recently stepped up efforts to abduct members of Palestinian factions living about 1 km (0.6 mile) from the Yellow Line and hand them over to Israel.
They said the operations were managed entirely by Israeli intelligence officers overseeing the gangs’ areas of operation, primarily in an effort to create chaos and demonstrate the gangs’ ability to advance Israeli security objectives.
One source said Palestinian factions regularly issue warnings to their members about the gangs’ operations.
Other attempts
Another source told Asharq Al-Awsat that an attempt was made about a week ago to abduct a member of a different faction in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
The man escaped but sustained moderate injuries while fleeing from the vehicle in which he had been held, the source said.
On Sept. 4, the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, said members of the armed gangs had attempted to abduct one of its fighters on Al-Jumayza Street in the town of Al-Qarara, northeast of Khan Younis.
The group said the gunmen had advanced into the area with support from Israeli drones before they were detected, triggering clashes that killed and wounded several members of the gang, according to a statement issued at the time.
The Al-Quds Brigades said Israeli drones intervened to help the force withdraw, while members of the force shot and killed an Al-Quds Brigades fighter, Fadi al-Abadla, and left him at the scene.
A field source told Asharq Al-Awsat at the time that Abadla arrived at Nasser Medical Complex with his hands bound. This suggested that his abduction had nearly succeeded and that he may have been interrogated before the attempted abduction and subsequently executed, the source said.
Continued violations
Israeli forces continued their violations of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
A Palestinian was reported to have died from wounds sustained on Thursday evening when Israeli military vehicles opened fire north of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
Five Palestinians, including two women, were wounded on Friday in similar Israeli fire east of Bureij and Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. A woman was critically wounded in Israeli artillery shelling east of Jabalia al-Balad in northern Gaza, while two Palestinians were wounded by fire from Israeli military vehicles south of Khan Younis.
Israeli forces also intensified artillery shelling as they carried out demolitions in several parts of the Gaza Strip.
