Khan Younis clan says Israeli-backed militia kidnapped 4 members, denies they’re linked to Hamas

A Palestinian clan in the Khan Younis area says four of its members, including a 15-year-old boy, were kidnapped Saturday by an area anti-Hamas militia led by Hossam al-Astal, a former Palestinian Authority security officer who has claimed to receive military support from Israel.

The Sha’er clan denies the four had anything to do with Hamas.

Astal claimed Saturday that his militia captured six Hamas operatives and killed several others in Batn al-Samin, on the Hamas-controlled side of the Gaza ceasefire line in southwestern Khan Younis. Hamas claimed at the time that it had ambushed a gang carrying out a “kidnapping operation” on behalf of Israel in Batn al-Samin.

In a statement on social media, the Sha’er clan says its four members were abducted by Astal’s militia while gathering firewood in a designated safe zone, “away from any site of tension or clashes.”

According to the clan, Astal’s militia came from Qizan al-Najjar, an area of Khan Younis that abuts Batn al-Samin from the southeast and is bisected by the ceasefire line.

The clan says its abducted members “are uninvolved in any political or military organization,” adding that “the claim that the abductees ‘belong to the Hamas movement’ is baseless and its sole purpose is to legitimize the attack on civilians.”

The four were taken to an unknown location, the clan adds, while demanding their “immediate and unconditional release.”