Off the wire
• Urgent: U.S. stocks rebound following global rallies  • BMW Group vehicle sales hit record high in June, H1  • Roundup: World crop prospects positive in 2015, UN agency says  • Bring copyright into digital age: MEPs  • Merkel pledges to help BiH's EU integration  • Feature: Traditional circumcisions take toll on S. African boys  • Urgent: U.S. Army to cut 40,000 soldiers, 17,000 civilians by end of fiscal 2018  • 1st LD Writethru: Gold prices lower following release of Fed minutes  • Roundup: Tough issues remain unresolved, U.S. could walk away if decisions not made: Kerry  • Urgent: Gold lower following release of Fed minutes  
You are here: 　 Home

Israel cares about welfare of two Israelis captive in Gaza

Xinhua, July 10, 2015 Adjust font size:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he holds Hamas responsible for the wellbeing of two Israelis who are believed in captivity in the Gaza Strip.

"We hold Hamas responsible for their welfare," Netanyahu said in a statement Thursday, several hours after a magistrate court in the southern city of Ashkelon lifted a gag order, revealing that an Israeli Ethiopian and a Bedouin are believed to be captive in the Gaza Strip.

The prime minister said that the country is "working to return" the two Israelis, who had crossed the fence into the Gaza Strip under unclear circumstances in the past year.

Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon also addressed the issue during his visit to Italy, saying the government is in contact with both families and that Israel is "investing many efforts" to bring them back home.

Hamas leaders have made statements recently regarding talks with Israel over the exchange of bodies of Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, two Israeli soldiers killed in the Strip during last summer's war, possibly alluding to the presence of living Israeli captives as well.

Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal told an Arab newspaper Al-Araby al-Jadeed on Wednesday that Israel wants European involvement in negotiations to free Israeli soldiers and captives, adding that Hamas "won't let Israeli prisoners go before the release of Palestinian prisoners."

Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in 2007. There have been in the past attempts by few Israelis to cross into the Strip, mostly in cases of apparent mental illness. Endit