Murder

Italian Activist Found Dead in Gaza

After abduction by radical group.

An Italian pro-Palestinian activist has been found hanged in a Gaza City house hours after being abducted. The activist, Vittorio Arrigoni, was seized by Salafists militants, a radical Islamist group that considers Hamas too moderate. The Salafists threatened to execute Arrigoni unless Hamas released several prisoners, but killed him before the deadline. In a video posted to YouTube, Arrigoni appears beaten and blindfolded and his captors denounce Italy as “the infidel state” and say Arrigoni “entered our land only to spread corruption." Arrigoni was a member of the International Solidarity Movement and had been in Gaza for several years. Huwaida Arraf, a co-founder of the ISM, said he was well-known in the territory as a "dynamic, humanitarian personality.” Italy denounced the murder as an “act of vile and senseless violence.”