 Palestinian security forces freed a kidnapped Italian after a gunbattle with his captors in the increasingly lawless Gaza Strip as Palestinian factions announced the end of a truce with Israel in the New Year with the firing of a volley of rockets into the Jewish state. Palestinian security forces stormed a building in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis where the Italian hostage was being held, freeing the man after a shootout with his kidnappers. No one was hurt in the shootout, and the kidnappers escaped, a security official said.
Palestinian security officials and an Italian diplomat identified the freed hostage as Alessandro Bernardini, an Italian peace activist. He was traveling on a minibus carrying 10 foreigners, including European lawmakers, in Khan Younis early yesterday. Armed men stopped the minibus, forced the Italian out and sped away with him. There was no claim of responsibility for the abduction, but a security official in Khan Younis said it was carried out by a small group linked to Fatah.
| That'd be the al-Aqsa Lunatics Brigades, I'd guess... |
Bernardini works as an aide in the European Parliament and was part of a delegation that included two European lawmakers. After the ordeal, Bernardini drove off in a Palestinian security vehicle. |