Civil rights and advocacy group also reiterate its call on the administration to secure a ceasefire to save Americans trapped or held captive in Gaza

(CHICAGO, IL, 2/8/2024) The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization in the nation, today called on the Biden administration to demand the release of two U.S. citizens reportedly kidnapped overnight in Gaza by Israeli forces and to save other Americans trapped or held hostage in Gaza by securing a ceasefire.

Sky News reports that Israeli forces have detained two American brothers – Borak Alagha, 18, and Hashem Alagha, 20, two brothers born in the Chicago area – and their Canadian father in an overnight raid on their home in Gaza.

According to Sky News and Associated Press:

“Yasmeen Elagha, a law student at Northwestern University and cousin of Borak and Hashem, said Israeli forces entered the family home in the town of al-Masawi, near Khan Younis, around 5 am Gaza time today.

“The soldiers tied up and blindfolded the women and children in the family, and placed them outside the home, the cousins said.

The two American brothers, their Canadian citizen father, a mentally disabled uncle, and two other adult male relatives were taken away by the Israelis, and remain missing, Ms Elagha said.”

In a statement, CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab said:

“We are seeing war crimes play out in every shocking granularity, carpet bombing, and mass massacres; civilians terrorized by soldiers, women and children blindfolded, the men taken and still missing. And then there is the added irony of Israel taking American citizens hostage and the double standard in terms of a lack of outrage from our government, elected officials, and media. Will our officials stand up for our citizens or continue to fund and defend their kidnappers?”

CAIR also sent a letter to the State Department and the American embassy in Jerusalem requesting that they demand the immediate release of American citizen and New Orleans grandmother Samaher Esmail, who was kidnapped by Israeli forces on Monday. 

SEE: IDF arrests US citizen in West Bank for ‘incitement on social media’

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CONTACT: Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director of CAIR Chicago, 202-870-0166,arehab@cair.com; Maggie Slavin, Operations Manager of CAIR-Chicago, 815-590-3991, mslavin@cair.com; Erin P.R. Davis, MCM, Communications Coordinator of CAIR-Chicago, 773-802-8786, epdavis@cair.com