DayofPal—Israeli forces abducted a Gazan student while he was traveling through the Karem Abu Salem crossing from the Gaza Strip, on Monday, to Italy to continue his studies.
Brother of Mahmoud Talal Al-Najjar confirmed that his sibling had received prior Israeli approval to travel to Italy via the Karem Abu Salem crossing, as he was due to begin studies at the University of Tor Vergata as part of his continued education.
This marks the second reported abduction since Gaza’s crossings reopened after months of Israeli closure.
Reports said Mahmoud was taken to an unknown destination. Al-Najjar is a university lecturer and the sole surviving member of his family after his wife, four children, and several relatives were killed in an Israeli strike that hit their home in Jabalia in 2024 during the genocide.
He had produced several academic papers after months of efforts to obtain permission to leave the besieged enclave.
This is the second abduction reported case of Palestinians travelling to or out of Gaza by Israeli forces.
In March, Palestinian security sources and witnesses among the returnees reported that a man had been coming back to the Gaza Strip after a three-year absence, prior to the genocide, before Israeli forces abducted him.
An eyewitness said the arrest took place in the presence of the Red Cross.
A Palestinian security source has warned that Israel could turn the crossings into a point for arresting Palestinians traveling to and from Gaza under heavy restrictions and monitoring.
A US-backed ceasefire announced in October was intended to halt the genocide and lift the total blockade of Gaza, allowing flows of aid, food and medicine into the territory.
However, Israel has consistently violated the agreement and continued to restrict the entry of much-needed supplies, keeping fuel, food and medical supplies critically scarce and exacerbating the suffering of over 2 million Palestinians.
Since the ceasefire, Israel has allowed only a handful of Palestinians to return from Egypt via the Rafah crossing, amid reports that it intends to facilitate more Palestinians leaving Gaza rather than returning to it.
Palestinian returnees say they were abused by Israeli border agents, who told them, “Gaza is ours” and “Israel will turn Gaza into hell.”
For Palestinians in Gaza, the Rafah crossing had long been the only connection to the outside world, a lifeline for Gaza.
Israeli forces occupied the Palestinian side of the crossing in May 2024, destroying its buildings, preventing travel and causing a severe humanitarian crisis, especially for patients.
They deployed soldiers in a military buffer zone all across the Philadelphi Corridor, where they remain today.
Israeli occupation authorities also reopened the Karem Abu Salem crossing for a limited entry of humanitarian aid into the Strip.
Israel also now occupies more than 58% of the enclave, forcing Palestinians into ever-shrinking areas by expanding the so-called “yellow line” that separates Israeli-controlled areas from Palestinian areas.
United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk condemned Israel’s recent violations in the Gaza Strip, saying that “the unrelenting pattern of killings” reflects Israel’s “sweeping impunity”.
“Palestinians are still being killed and injured in what is left of their homes, shelters and tents of displaced families, on the streets, in vehicles, at a medical facility and a classroom,” Turk added.
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