Two Tanzanian students taken hostage by Hamas in Gaza have been named by the Israeli government.
Joshua Loitu Mollel and Clemence Felix Mtenga were in Israel as part of an agricultural internship programme, Israel’s foreign ministry said on X.
“They were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists and are being held hostage in Gaza,” the statement read.
Mr Mollel’s father told the BBC he has hope that his eldest son will return safely.
He said that Tanzania’s ambassador to Israel had assured him the two governments were working together to secure their release.
However, the Tanzanian authorities have not commented publicly on the seizure of their citizens.
Before it was confirmed that his son, 21, had been taken hostage, Mr Mollel told the BBC he couldn’t eat or sleep because he was desperate to know what had happened to him.
“When I go to the market people ask me why I’m losing so much weight,” he said last week.
The last time Mr Mollel spoke to his son was on Thursday 5 October – two days before the Hamas gunmen attacked Kibbutz Nahal Oz, where he was studying.
The last words he said were: “Be on your best behaviour because you’re somewhere new, and make the most of the internship you’re there to do.”
Mr Mtenga’s family is yet to speak publicly.
They were among 260 Tanzanian students in Israel.
Source: bbc.com
