Close X
Monday, September 23, 2024
ADVT 
National

Global Affairs Canada 'aware of reports' of missing Canadian in Gaza Strip

Darpan News Desk IANS, 08 Feb, 2024 12:08 PM
  • Global Affairs Canada 'aware of reports' of missing Canadian in Gaza Strip

Ottawa says it is aware of reports that another Canadian citizen has gone missing in the Gaza Strip.

Global Affairs Canada says it is providing consular assistance to the family but can't share more because of privacy considerations. 

The Associated Press reports that Israeli forces detained two young adult American brothers and their Canadian father in Gaza in an overnight raid.

Relatives of the men say they were taken from their home.

A U.S. 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, while 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 U.S. citizens known to still be trying to leave sealed-off Gaza, as the Israel-Hamas war entered its fifth month.

Cousin Yasmeen Elagha, a law student at Northwestern University, said Israeli forces entered the family home in the community of al-Muwasi, near the southern city of Khan Younis, around 5 a.m. Gaza time Thursday.

The 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 neighboring 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.

A family social media account from Gaza also described the detentions.

State Department spokespeople in Washington had no immediate comment on the reported detention of the American brothers.

The brothers would be among three American citizens taken into custody by Israeli forces this week, during the same time Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited the region to try to mediate a ceasefire and hostage release deal with ally Israel and regional Arab leaders.

MORE National ARTICLES

84 year old struck in New Westminster

84 year old struck in New Westminster
Police in New Westminster are looking for witnesses and dash-cam video after a hit-and-run left an 84-year-old man with serious injuries. Police say officers found the man who had been hit by a driver in the parking lot of a gas station at the intersection of Sixth Avenue and Eighth Street around 8 p-m Monday night.

84 year old struck in New Westminster

India resuming some visa services at high commission, consulates in Canada

India resuming some visa services at high commission, consulates in Canada
India's high commission in Canada said on Wednesday that the country's officials will resume processing some types of visa applications in Ottawa and at consulates in Toronto and Vancouver. The decision came a month after New Delhi suspended the services in Canada and for Canadian citizens worldwide.

India resuming some visa services at high commission, consulates in Canada

BOC keeping interest rate at 5%

BOC keeping interest rate at 5%
The Bank of Canada is keeping its key interest rate at five per cent, saying there are clearer signs that monetary policy is moderating spending and relieving price pressures. But it hasn't ruled out future rate hikes as those pressures remain high.

BOC keeping interest rate at 5%

BC United calls premier 'condo king' over his property sale; Eby says 'nonsense'

BC United calls premier 'condo king' over his property sale; Eby says 'nonsense'
The sale of Premier David Eby's condominium in Victoria has become embroiled in the debate over the New Democrat government's proposed law on short-term rental accommodations. The Opposition BC United accused Eby on Tuesday of largely profiting from the sale of his condominium in 2019 because it was in a building complex that did not have rental restrictions.

BC United calls premier 'condo king' over his property sale; Eby says 'nonsense'

Boat capsizes, 61 year old dead

Boat capsizes, 61 year old dead
RCMP say a 61-year-old man was alone when the tugboat he was piloting capsized off Vancouver.  Mounties say they received a report of a body washing ashore on Tower Beach on Monday afternoon on the U-B-C endowment lands. 

Boat capsizes, 61 year old dead

Southern B.C. sees snow at higher levels as incoming rainstorm meets arctic cold

Southern B.C. sees snow at higher levels as incoming rainstorm meets arctic cold
The first major snowfall of the season could blanket higher elevations of Vancouver Island with up to 10 centimetres of snow as an eastbound rainstorm meets a westbound blast of arctic air over British Columbia's south coast. Environment Canada has posted special weather statements for inland, northern and eastern parts of Vancouver Island, warning that rain could fall as snow on the highest elevations of Highways 4, 19, 28 and the Malahat Summit as the two systems brush, although no snow was expected at sea level.

Southern B.C. sees snow at higher levels as incoming rainstorm meets arctic cold