#1 the popcorn just got extra delicious
"Palestinians kidnap 2 UN contractors in Gaza Strip
By Arnon Regular, Haaretz Correspondent and The Associated Press
Palestinian gunmen abducted two United Nations contractors in the Gaza Strip on Friday, including an Australian woman, in an attempt to put pressure on the Palestinian Authority to release a relative seized by a rival family.
The two workers were not believed to be in any immediate danger, and Palestinian security officials said they were trying to secure their release.
United Nations Development Program officials identified the employees as Steve Sabila, a Palestinian photographer, and Zoe Constantine, a freelance writer from Australia. Both were working as consultants for the agency when they were seized Friday afternoon.
UNDP officials declined further comment, saying the situation was too sensitive.
A group identified with the family of Jihad Abed, a Palestinian intelligence officer abducted Thursday in the Gaza Strip, told Haaretz they are resposible for the abductions.
The abductors threatend to harm the two should the PA fail to act within three hours to secure Abed's release.
Gen. Ala Hosni, the Palestinian police commander in Gaza, pledged to free the captives.
"We are not going to allow this incident to continue, and the kidnappers should release the hostages immediately," he said. "Our troops moved to the place where we believe the hostages are held, and they are working to guarantee their safety."
Abed was snatched from his car in Gaza City Thursday by members of the Jenin Martyrs Brigades and taken to an undisclosed location in a Palestinian refugee camp.
The motive for kidnapping Abed was not immediately known, as the Jenin Martyrs Brigade refused to comment.
One of Abed's family members, Abu Haled, said that the family insists that the PA is not doing enough to bring back their relative. He also said that the two international representatives are in danger of being harmed if the PA does not arrest Mahmoud Nashbat, a gunman from the Jenin Martyrs Brigades.
Abu Haled also said that the Nashbat is being aided by PA members that benefit from Abed's abduction.
The group responsible for the latest abductions says that they spoke with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Interior Minister Nasser Yousef following their relative's seizure but the PA has done nothing thus far.
They refuse to identify the kidnappers or to allow them to be interviewed.
The Jenin Martyrs Brigades last year briefly kidnapped
then-Gaza police chief Ghazi al-Jabali, accusing him of graft. He was freed unharmed.
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A Palestinian armed group has seized a Palestinian military intelligence officer in the central Gaza Strip, Aljazeera has learned. Some Palestinian mediators were making contacts to free the officer, Aljazeera's correspondent added. Colonel Jihad Abed was abducted on the street by a group who bundled him into a car in the Bureij refugee camp, witnesses and officials said on Thursday. "We are dealing with a kidnap incident but we do not know the reasons behind the abduction," a Palestinian Interior Ministry spokesman said. "We have launched an investigation and are conducting a search operation."