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Two Israeli citizens ‘held’ in Gaza

A crow sits on a barbwire fence on the Mediterranean sea beach front near Kibbutz Zikim, on the Israel-Gaza border, close to where Israeli Avraham Mangisto "independently" crossed into the Gaza Strip in September last year 
A crow sits on a barbwire fence on the Mediterranean sea beach front near Kibbutz Zikim, on the Israel-Gaza border, close to where Israeli Avraham Mangisto "independently" crossed into the Gaza Strip in September last year  A crow sits on a barbwire fence on the Mediterranean sea beach front near Kibbutz Zikim, on the Israel-Gaza border, close to where Israeli Avraham Mangisto "independently" crossed into the Gaza Strip in September last year  (Ariel Schalit/AP)

Two Israeli citizens are being held in the Gaza Strip, at least one of them by the Hamas militant group, Israeli authorities said.

Avraham Mangisto “independently” crossed the border fence into the Gaza Strip on September 7 last year, nearly two weeks after the end of the Israel-Gaza war, the Israeli defence body responsible for Palestinian civilian affairs said.

The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said that “according to credible intelligence”, Mr Mangisto is being held “against his will” by Hamas.

A spokesman for Hamas, Salah Bardawil, said: “We don’t have any information about it. 

“Even if it is true, we don’t have instructions to talk about it.”

It is unclear why the Israeli authorities decided to publicise the issue 10 months after the incident.

The second person being held in Gaza is an Arab citizen of Israel.