Family says two American brothers detained in Israeli raid in Gaza
Israeli forces detained two young adult American brothers in Gaza and their Canadian father in an overnight raid on their home in the Palestinian territory, relatives of the men said.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Thursday the administration will be talking with Israeli authorities about the reported detentions of the brothers, as well as the Israeli military’s arrest of an American woman in the occupied West Bank earlier in the week.
“We want to know more about the reasons here,” Kirby told reporters at the White House.
“Obviously, this is the kind of thing we take very seriously,” he said, and the U.S. will be “trying to get information, more context here about what happened.”
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, nearly four months into the Israeli-Hamas war.
Other U.S. green-card holders and close relatives of the citizens and permanent residents also are still struggling and unable to leave, despite U.S. requests they be allowed to exit, according to their American families and advocates.
Cousin Yasmeen Elagha, a law student at Northwestern University, said Israeli forces entered the family home in the town of al-Masawi, near Khan Younis, around 5 a.m. Gaza time Thursday.
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 have not returned, Elagha said.
Men of a neighboring household were also taken away. So were other adult male relatives of another Alagha family household, for a total of about 20 family members detained, the U.S. cousin said.
The State Department said Thursday it was seeking more information on the reported detentions. It cited privacy concerns for the brothers in not commenting further.
U.S. officials in December said they had helped 1,300 Americans, green-card holders and their eligible close family members to leave Gaza since Oct. 7.
State Department officials in January declined to say how many people for whom the U.S. has requested permission to leave remain in Gaza, citing the “fluidity” of the situation.
The Israeli military and Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.