The Israeli government has verified the names of two people from Tanzania who are believed to be kidnapped by the Hamas group. They have been held captive since the attack on 7 October near the Gaza border.
Joshua Loitu Mollel and Clemence Felix Mtenga went to Israel for an agricultural internship program, according to a statement from Israel’s ministry of foreign affairs on Sunday.
“They were taken by bad people called Hamas and are being kept as prisoners in Gaza. ” “Please pray with us for their safe and quick return,” the message posted on X (formerly Twitter) said.
It sent pictures of both of them.
Joshua’s dad spoke to the BBC and said that the Israeli ambassador to Tanzania had contacted them. The ambassador assured them that the government was taking action with regard to the issue. The dad had previously talked about how the family is desperately looking for Joshua.
Clemence’s family has not talked to the public yet.
The embassy of Tanzania in Tel Aviv has not given a response to the statement yet.
According to the embassy, there are more than 350 people from Tanzania living in Israel. Out of these, around 260 are students.
An unidentified person from South Africa is one of 224 people being kept by Hamas, as said by the Israeli government.