Close X
Sunday, December 1, 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

Shots fired in Burnaby

Shots fired in Burnaby
Mounties in Burnaby say they're investigating reports of shots being fired on a busy street in the city on Thursday. Police say they located a truck riddled with bullet holes when they arrived, but there were no injuries reported following the shooting.

Shots fired in Burnaby

Can Canadian downtowns find new purpose in a post-office era?

Can Canadian downtowns find new purpose in a post-office era?
Kay Matthews doesn't mince words when asked about the state of businesses fighting to survive in downtown cores across Ontario. The experiences in Ontario's cities are echoed across Canada, as downtowns grapple with high vacancy rates, the post-pandemic work culture and the prospect that crowds of office workers may never return in full.  

Can Canadian downtowns find new purpose in a post-office era?

Housing dominates B.C. legislative session with next election less than a year away

Housing dominates B.C. legislative session with next election less than a year away
The end of the fall legislative session comes less than a year away from B.C.'s expected election, and about three months before the New Democrat government's tabling of its February budget. Finance Minister Katrine Conroy signalled this week it will post a multibillion-dollar deficit and projects economic growth below one per cent.

Housing dominates B.C. legislative session with next election less than a year away

2 min court silence in Ibrahim Ali trial

2 min court silence in Ibrahim Ali trial
The B.C. Supreme Court first-degree murder trial of Ibrahim Ali fell silent for two full minutes as Crown attorney Daniel Porte neared the end of his closing arguments. Porte was illustrating how long it would have taken Ali to strangle the 13-year-old girl he's accused of killing in a Burnaby, B.C., park six years ago, saying Ali would have had to apply "consistent and sustained" pressure.  

2 min court silence in Ibrahim Ali trial

150 overdose deaths in October

150 overdose deaths in October
A statement from the coroners' service says in October alone 189 people died from overdoses, which is more than six deaths a day. It is also the 37th consecutive month where at least 150 people died from illicit overdoses.   

150 overdose deaths in October

Surrey lifeguard charged with sexual interference

Surrey lifeguard charged with sexual interference
Mounties in Surrey are advising the public after an investigation led to sex offence charges against a 24-year-old man. Police say the man was a lifeguard at the City of Surrey Recreation Centre and has been charged with sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching and luring a child. 

Surrey lifeguard charged with sexual interference