 It is not clear who is holding him or what their motive might be, and a Hamas spokesman has condemned the kidnap. Emilio Morenatti, 37, was apparently leaving a flat in the centre of Gaza City on his way to an early-morning assignment when he was seized. He was reportedly approached by gunmen who emerged from a white Volkswagen car and took him away. Over the last two years or so, there have been about 24 cases of foreigners being kidnapped in the Gaza Strip. Their captors have normally been disaffected militant groups who use hostages as bargaining chips in disputes with the local authorities, BBC Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston says. The foreigners were usually released quickly and unharmed. But the last kidnapping involving two journalists from the US Fox news organisation was a much more prolonged affair. The pair were held by a militant Islamist Jihadi-style group that at times threatened to kill them. The captives were forced to convert to Islam and denounce the West in a video before eventually being freed. Ghazi Hamad, spokesman for the Hamas-led Palestinian government, condemned the kidnapping, saying it "damages the reputation of the Palestinian people". "The government will take all steps to ensure his release," he said.
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