A senior Palestinian official announced that the two foreigners, an Austrian and a Briton kidnapped on Tuesday night by a Palestinian family in central Gaza, had been released unharmed on Wednesday evening.

Ahmed Helles, the mainstream Fatah movement's secretary general in the Gaza Strip, told a news conference held in Gaza City Police headquarters on Wednesday evening that the hostage crisis was peacefully solved.

The two released foreigners, Volker Mitterhammer of Austria and Mike Rabicano of Britain who were both working for an international organization on Gaza's water treatment, were sitting by Helles' side at the news conference.

"As soon as we heard about the abduction, and according to instructions we received from President Mahmoud Abbas, we rushed to al-Bureij refugee camp and found that the Eassa family kidnapped the two foreigners," said Helles.

He added that several Fatah leaders headed to the refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip and negotiated with the family to secure the hostages' release as soon as possible.

"At the end (of the negotiations), we reached an agreement and the two were freed without being hurt," said Helles.

The two foreigners were kidnapped on Tuesday evening in northern Gaza by armed members of the powerful Eassa family who attempted to exchange the hostages for the release of their relatives jailed by the Palestinian National Authority.

The two were then taken to the al-Bureij refugee camp.

Palestinian Interior Ministry confirmed the abduction in a statement, adding that Interior Minister Nasser Youssef had issued instructions to search for them.

Austrian and British diplomats also made separate confirmation of the two's disappearance.

"At the beginning, I thought they wanted money and I tried to give them money but they refused and insisted that I go with them. Then they took me and my colleague to the refugee camp," said Mitterhammer.

He added that the kidnappers didn't hurt him and told him that he and his friend were guests.

"I visited so many countries all over the world and always believed that the Palestinian territories were safe, but this incident had shocked both of us," said Mitterhammer.

Thanking for all efforts exerted to secure his safe release, he said he was happy that the crisis ended peacefully although he was still in a shock.

As to the Eassa family's demand for release of their jailed relatives, Helles said the only way to respond to the family demand was to "let law and order be implemented."

"The law at the end should be implemented and all the Palestinian factions as well as the Palestinian National Authority and the people should coordinate in implementing the law," Helles stressed.

Palestinian sources said the Eassa family, a well-known and influential clan in central Gaza, conditioned the release of the two hostages on Palestinian security forces' release of their family members held in Palestinian prisons.

A few months ago, a member of the Eassa family was shot dead by gunmen and Palestinian security forces arrested two suspects and put them into the Gaza central prison.

Armed members of the family then stormed the prison and killed the two suspects, which prompted security forces to detain several members of the family.

Source: Xinhua