Mother of missing US journalist urges Israel not to strike Damascus area where he may be held

WASHINGTON — The mother of missing American journalist Austin Tice has penned a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asking him to halt Israeli strikes in a particular neighborhood of Damascus where Tice is credibly believed to be held.

The IDF has been conducting airstrikes in military sites across Syria to prevent assets that previously belonged to ousted leader Bashar al-Assad’s regime from getting into the hands of groups hostile to Israel.

“We have credible information… that Austin may now be held in a prison called Mt. Qasioun prison. This prison has a secret tunnel which connects the Al-Maliki neighborhood to the Republic Palace. The prison is located underneath a military museum,” Debra Tice writes in a letter to Netanyahu over the weekend that has since been made public.

“We are aware that your military has an active campaign in the area, preventing rescuers from approaching and accessing the prison facility. We have no way of knowing if the prisoners there have food and water,” adds the mother of Tice, who was taken captive during a reporting trip to Syria in August 2012 and has been missing since.

“We urgently request you pause strikes on this area and deploy Israeli assets to search for Austin Tice and other prisoners,” Tice’s mother says. “Time is of the essence. We are calling on you to leverage all your relationships and resources to liberate that prison.”

Netanyahu’s hostage envoy Gal Hirsch confirms receipt of the letter to The New York Times and says Israel is in touch with the US on the matter.

“We will do everything possible in assisting the United States of America to bring the hostages and missing persons back home,” Hirsch tells the newspaper.