July 27, 2009
GAZA (ANS) -- Constantine Dabbagh, executive secretary of the Near East Council of Churches, complained on Wednesday that three masked men who broke into his house beat him and his wife before stealing money and jewelry.
The Hamas government said it had launched an investigation into the incident, which took place on Tuesday night in the western suburbs of Gaza City, according to a report in The Jerusalem Post newspaper.
The newspaper says the assault on Dabbagh and his wife is the latest in a series of attacks on members of the tiny Christian community in the Gaza Strip.
Dabbagh said that the masked men first bound his and his wife's hands behind their backs before covering their heads and faces with cloth and beating them.
He added that the assailants told him that they came to search the house for wireless communication devices.
Dabbagh said the masked men spent nearly one hour inside the house, during which time they stole money and jewelry. The assailants also stole the Christian couple's car.
Christians in the Gaza live in a kind of no-zone between two worlds, often caught in the cross-fire between Palestinians and Israelis. Neither side openly interacts with the small number of Christians in the area.
Copyright 2009 ASSIST News Service
