Palestinians abducted in Egypt's Sinai released: Hamas

<p>By Nour Abu Aisha </p> <p>GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) – Four Palestinians abducted by unidentified gunmen in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula in 2015 have been released by the Egyptian authorities, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said Thursday.</p> <p>“The four men have been released and have safely returned to Gaza,” Haniyeh said, expressing his “deep gratitude to the Egyptian leadership” for the decision.</p> <p>In a statement released earlier Thursday, Haniyeh had said that the issue was broached during his recent talks with Egyptian officials in Cairo.</p> <p>In August of 2015, unidentified gunmen abducted the four Palestinians as they took a bus through ​​Sinai from the Rafah border crossing to Cairo.</p> <p>At the time, Hamas had held the Egyptian authorities responsible for the four young men’s safety, urging Cairo to work towards securing their release.</p> <p>Their fate, however, had remained unknown until now.</p> <p>On Wednesday, Haniyeh and an accompanying delegation returned to Gaza following a three-week visit to Cairo for discussions with Egyptian officials.</p> <p>Upon Haniyeh’s return to Gaza, group spokesman Abdel Latif al-Qanoua stated: “Hamas is satisfied with the results of the visit; Egypt understands our position on a range of issues.”</p> <p>Recent months have seen an uptick in diplomatic activity involving Egypt, Israel, the Ramallah-based Palestinian government and Hamas, which has governed the Gaza Strip since 2007.</p>