Egypt urged to reveal fate of abducted Palestinian youths one year on

The relatives of four Palestinians who were kidnapped in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula a year ago yesterday demanded the Egyptian authorities inform them about the fate of their children.

A spokesman for the families said they have had no information regarding the boys since they were abducted from a bus that left the Rafah crossing on 19 August 2015 on its way to Cairo airport.

A sit-in took place in solidarity with the four boys outside the headquarters of the International Committee for the Red Cross in Gaza yesterday.

The families demanded that the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and the Palestinian Embassy in Cairo exert efforts to uncover the fate of the abducted youths, stressing that this is a case of enforced disappearance.

Palestinian human rights activist Amira Shaath said the disappearance constituted a “war crime” under international law and the Rome Convention.

She held Egypt responsible for the youth’s disappearance on the grounds that the boys went missing on its territory.