Two American brothers detained by IDF after Israeli raid in Gaza: family

Israeli forces detained two American brothers and their Canadian father following an overnight raid on their home in Gaza, their family says.

Borak Alagha, 18, and Hashem Alagha, 20, brothers from the Chicago area, were allegedly detained by the IDF on Thursday morning after soldiers entered their home in southern Gaza.

Cousin Yasmeen Elagha, a law student at Northwestern University, claimed the Israeli soldiers tied up and blindfolded the women and children in the home as they carried off the two brothers, along with their father, Ahmed, a mentally disabled uncle and two other male relatives.

She added that the family has not heard from the men since they were taken away.

The US Embassy in Jerusalem said American officials were made aware of the situation and have been following up with Israeli authorities.

The Israeli foreign ministry and military have not commented on the incident.

The US State Department made no immediate comment on the brothers’ case. Its Canadian counterpart, Global Affairs Canada, said it was also made aware of the situation and is “providing consular assistance to the family.”

The Alagha brothers are among the fewer than 50 US citizens known to be stuck in Gaza after the Palestinian enclave was sealed off due to the Israel-Hamas war.

The young men and their family, as well as numerous US green card holders and relatives of American citizens and permanent residents, have been attempting to leave as the war consumes nearly every inch of Gaza.

Although the brothers and several of their relatives were allegedly included on a list of approved evacuees to exit through the Egyptian border, they have still not been allowed to leave.

A group of Palestinian Americans in Chicago filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration last month for its alleged failures to help the family evacuate.

Including the men in the Alagha family, Elagha said that a total of 20 men in their al-Muwasi neighborhood, near Khan Younis, were detained by the IDF.

Throughout the war, which has entered its fifth month, the IDF has rounded up scores of men in Gaza, arguing that the practice of mass detention was a necessary tool to fight Hamas.

The practice has been condemned by Palestinians who say it’s unjust to arrest civilian men unaffiliated with Hamas.

Israel had received backlash last month after videos of a mass detention in northern Gaza showed dozens of Palestinians stripped down to their underwear blaming Hamas for the war as they were surrounded by IDF soldiers.

Following criticisms over the half-naked arrests, the Israeli military said it would change the way it detains Palestinians captured in Gaza.

The Alagha brothers’ detention comes just days after Samaher Esmail, a 46-year-old Palestinian American, was arrested in her West Bank home and held for questioning for “incitement on social media.”

Since Oct. 7, Israel has cracked down on the West Bank and has arrested dozens of Palestinians accused of posting inciting material on social media criticizing the government or the war in Gaza.

With Post wires