NEW YORK, Aug 15: Two journalists from the US television channel Fox News were kidnapped by armed men in Gaza on Monday, the network said, in the latest of a series of abductions since Israel’s withdrawal last year.

The two, identified by the network as US reporter Steve Centanni and freelance cameraman Olaf Wiig, whose nationality was not specified, were abducted by gunmen who intercepted their car in Gaza City, witnesses said.

The reporting team’s Palestinian driver and two other journalists were set free. No group has yet claimed responsibility for kidnapping the pair.

“We can confirm that two of our colleagues at Fox News have been kidnapped in the Gaza Strip,” Fox said in a statement, adding that negotiations were under way to secure their release.

It said the pair had been reporting from the region for several weeks.

Ghazi Hamad, spokesman for the Hamas-led Palestinian government, condemned the abduction and called for their ‘rapid liberation’, as did Nabil Abu Rudeina, spokesman for Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

The Palestinian interior ministry said a search was under way for the two.

“We have launched a probe to determine who kidnapped them and we are seeking to find them as quickly as possible,” a spokesman said.—AFP