Close X
Monday, November 11, 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

Strong winds over Vancouver Island, with freezing rain in B.C.'s southern Interior

Strong winds over Vancouver Island, with freezing rain in B.C.'s southern Interior
Environment Canada is warning of strong winds in Victoria and along the west coast of Vancouver Island, while southeastern B.C. could see freezing rain. The weather office says winds blowing 80 kilometres an hour with gusts up to 100 are forecast to persist on parts of the island until some time Sunday morning.  

Strong winds over Vancouver Island, with freezing rain in B.C.'s southern Interior

No injuries after train collision, derailment south of Vancouver, B.C. company says

No injuries after train collision, derailment south of Vancouver, B.C. company says
Canada's Transportation Safety Board says it is sending an investigator to probe a train collision and derailment in Metro Vancouver, while a spokesperson for the company says no one was injured and there's no threat to the public. A statement from the board says the incident involved two trains operated by Texas-headquartered BNSF Railway at a subdivision in New Westminster, B.C.

No injuries after train collision, derailment south of Vancouver, B.C. company says

Police watchdog called to investigate man's death in Dawson Creek

Police watchdog called to investigate man's death in Dawson Creek
Mounties in northeastern British Columbia say one man is dead after exchanging gunfire with police and barricading himself inside an apartment overnight. Officers found the man dead of what the RCMP say are believed to have been self-inflicted injuries the next morning, and B.C.'s police watchdog has been notified.

Police watchdog called to investigate man's death in Dawson Creek

Feds announce funding for rental homes in BC

Feds announce funding for rental homes in BC
The federal government is providing more than 155-million dollars for rental homes in five B-C cities in the Okanagan and on Vancouver Island. Statements from the Ministry of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities says nearly 88-million in fully-repayable low-interest loans is earmarked for the construction of 271 rental units in Victoria, Langford and Courtenay.  

Feds announce funding for rental homes in BC

1 arrested and drugs seized at a Surrey home

1 arrested and drugs seized at a Surrey home
One person has been arrested and a large amount of illicit drugs and weapons have been seized following a police raid on a home in Surrey. Surrey R-C-M-P say they served a search warrant at the home on November 4th, where officers seized a large amount of fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine, as well as multiple guns, ammunition and body armour.

1 arrested and drugs seized at a Surrey home

B.C. plane wreck 'verified' by RCMP is revealed to be fake crash site for training

B.C. plane wreck 'verified' by RCMP is revealed to be fake crash site for training
For the past couple years, the volunteer British Columbia air safety group PEP-Air has been using the skeletal fuselage of a light plane for training purposes on a private property north of Kamloops, B.C. The wreck has no motor, wings, doors, seats, or propeller.

B.C. plane wreck 'verified' by RCMP is revealed to be fake crash site for training