Egyptian diplomat kidnapped in Gaza

The Egyptian representative office identified him as a military attache.

Witnesses said gunmen shot out the tyre of the car Musli was travelling in and put another bullet in its fender, forcing it to stop. They then dragged him to their vehicle and sped away.

Palestinian security forces were deployed on the main north-south road in the Gaza Strip, stopping vehicles for inspection in a search for the kidnapped Egyptian.

Gaza has seen a rash of kidnappings since Israel’s pullout in September. Musli was the first diplomat to be abducted in Gaza, where foreigners seized by militants with gripes against the Palestinian Authority have been released quickly.

All Palestinian factions say they have good relations with Egypt, which has twice brokered a truce between militants and Israel.

Hamas leaders from the Palestinian territories and those in exile held talks in Cairo on Wednesday on establishing a new government following the Islamic militant group’s crushing victory over the long-dominant Fatah in a Jan. 25 election.

At the Erez border crossing between Gaza and Israel, Israeli soldiers killed two Palestinian gunmen who threw hand grenades and opened fire at troops, an army spokeswoman said in Tel Aviv.

In a separate incident near Erez, Israeli soldiers fired at two Palestinians who appeared to have been planting a bomb, the spokeswoman said. Palestinian medics said a Palestinian was killed.