Italian kidnapped in Gaza Strip

Palestinian gunmen kidnapped an Italian in the Gaza Strip today.

Armed men in two cars stopped a minibus carrying 10 foreigners as it was driving through the town of Khan Younis.

They forced one passenger out and into one of their vehicles before speeding away to an unknown destination, other passengers said.

Palestinian Cabinet minister Sufian Abu Zaydeh told Israel Radio that two people were seized.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The abduction is the latest in a rash of kidnappings in Gaza since Israel’s withdrawal from the coastal strip in September. On Friday, three Britons were released after being held by gunmen for two days.

Palestinian security officials said the Britons were abducted by gunmen with ties to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’s ruling Fatah party. The kidnappers said they were members of a previously unknown group, the Mujahedeen Brigades Jerusalem Branch.

The group threatened more abductions of foreigners if Israel did not abolish a “no-go” zone it declared last week on its border with the northern Gaza Strip.

Israel put the area off-limits last week in an effort to prevent rocket fire there, and threatened to shoot anyone entering the zone.

Late last night, two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike on the zone.

The abductions are part of an increasing wave of lawlessness on Palestinian streets in recent months, with armed gangs storming government buildings and election offices as well as kidnapping foreigners and shooting at each other in the streets.

Some Palestinian officials, including Abu Zaydeh, have urged postponement of January 25 Palestinian parliamentary elections in light of the growing chaos.

Militants have kidnapped foreigners as bargaining chips to get relatives released from Palestinian prisons, secure jobs from the Palestinian Authority or settle personal scores. The kidnappings have all been relatively brief, and all the hostages have been released unharmed.