Kidnapped British family freed in Gaza

The three British hostages released in the Gaza Strip have left the territory.

A previously-unknown group freed aid worker Kate Burton and her parents yesterday while demanding that the UK and Europe put pressure on Israel to end the “no-go zone” it imposed in the Gaza Strip, among other issues. In a video released to media, the group threatened to kidnap EU monitors of next month’s Palestinian election if their demands were not met. Kate and her parents Hugh and Helen were taken to Israel in a British diplomatic vehicle overnight. The trio had been seized in the chaotic southern town of Rafah on Wednesday. Gaza’s seen a rash of kidnappings since Israel withdrew from the coastal strip in September after 38 years of occupation. The political demands and Islamist tone of the Burtons’ captors were a marked departure from previous abductions in Gaza, where the perpetrators tend to be seeking jobs or the release of prisoners.

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