Two Italian Red Cross workers kidnapped in Gaza were released shortly after midnight on Wednesday, Palestinian security officials said. The two were kidnapped at gunpoint from their vehicle in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza Tuesday afternoon, Palestinian officials said, the latest in a string of abductions of foreigners in the lawless area. Over the past two years, there has been a rash of kidnappings of foreign aid workers and journalists in Gaza, usually by groups or families pressing the government for money or job guarantees. In most cases, the hostages were quickly released. None have been seriously harmed. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Tuesday's abductions.