Hamas blames Egyptian security forces in kidnapping attack

According to Maan News, officials said that some of their fellow travellers who arrived safely described the assailants as wearing "Pakistani-type" clothes and holding laptop computers on which they checked passengers' names before separating the four from the group and taking them away.

"Abd al-Dayim is a noble and lovable young man," said Moatassm Awaja, a friend of the 24-year-old al-Azhar graduate.

"He is his mother's only child and her everything - she has no one else. Even though he was committed to his work, he suffered a lot to keep it balanced with his studies, eventually graduating with merit from the faculty of engineering.

"And just like any other young man in Gaza, Abd al-Dayim was ambitious; he applied for a scholarship in Turkey and got accepted. Finally, after going through a lot of trouble with the crossing, he managed to travel. Yesterday, Abd al-Dayim was kidnapped."

A Hamas foreign ministry statement "condemned... the kidnapping of a number of Palestinians", but said that traffic would continue to pass through Rafah crossing.

International incident

Gaza Interior Ministry spokesman Iyad Bezem said his Egyptian counterpart had been contacted "to establish the circumstances of what happened, and demand that the Egyptians work to protect the victims and release them".

There are conflicting reports on where exactly the attack took place, with an Egyptian security source telling Maan that the bus was stopped around half a mile from an Egyptian checkpoint known as Sunbula, whereas some local Gazan journalists put the kidnapping closer to Rafah crossing - around 200 metres.  

Dayim's most recent Facebook post was a photo of himself in the waiting room in Rafah, asking for friends' prayers before he crossed into Turkey to continue his studies.

Many Gazans who received scholarships to study outside the besieged Gaza Strip need to wait months and grapple with a complex bureaucratic system to be able to travel.

After a lengthy period of closure, Rafah crossing was opened for four days this week.

Questions and culprits 

Palestinians face lengthy waits to travel through Rafah crossing [Anadolu]

The passage of buses through Rafah crossing is coordinated with Egyptian security services to prevent Palestinians "escaping" into Egypt.

Gazans are only allowed to enter Egypt in order to proceed directly to the airport.

This has led to further questions as to the responsibility of Egyptian authorities for the kidnapping.

As it is unsafe to travel through Sinai after dark, most buses are kept at the border crossing until it is deemed safe to travel - raising questions as to why this particular bus was permitted to leave at 8pm.

An official government worker at Rafah crossing also said that a representative of the office of the Palestinian ambassador to Egypt usually accompanies each bus. On the bus that was attacked, however, this was not the case.

Security threat on the Sinai

Egyptian security forces have been grappling with armed groups in Sinai for years, escalating after the ousting of Morsi in 2013.

In June, Bayt al-Maqdis, an Islamic State group franchise in Sinai, launched attacks in Sheikh Zuwaid and Rafah in northern Sinai - claiming them as "a stunning victory against our enemies". The Egyptian military has said that it has since regained control of the security situation in the restive province.

Despite accusations in Israeli and Egyptian media that Hamas have been aiding the IS-aligned group in Sinai, Hamas have also been grappling with Salafist militants and a number of self-proclaimed IS affiliates in Gaza, with attacks carried out on Hamas security institutions in June.

On the eve of the June Sinai attacks, IS fighters in Syria issued a video threatening to overthrow the Hamas government in Gaza due to its alleged nationalism, "secularism" and collaboration with Shia groups such as Hizballah.

Sources in Gaza told al-Araby that the clip included Gazans from Rafah, and that such individuals had been smuggled out of Gaza through tunnels with the help of militant groups and Bedouins in Sinai, without the knowledge of Hamas.

In July, the vehicles of five prominent leaders of the Islamic Jihad group and Hamas' armed wing, the Qassam brigades, were blown up in Gaza's Sheikh Radwan district.

Also in July, a Croatian topographer was kidnapped in Sinai. IS-affiliates released a video in August purportedly depicting his execution. The Croatian embassy has yet to confirm the victim in the video was the missing hostage.

While IS kidnapping of Westerners often gains much media attention, the group has kidnapped thousands from the region, most recently 200 Assyrians from Syria in February, and are thought to have executed at least 2,000 people.

Aside from IS militants, kidnappings in Sinai have also been carried out by groups of Bedouins, who have reportedly detained many would-be refugees from Sub-Saharan Africa crossing the province to reach Israel to claim asylum there.

It is common practice to hold the refugees until families pay a ransom for their release.

Whomever is responsible is this case, friends of Abd al-Dayim are sending messages of support and prayers for his release, hoping that he will able to either return home safely or take up his long-awaited opportunity to study abroad.