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Israeli military holding 2 Palestinian Americans without charge, family members say

Family members of Palestinian Americans in Gaza say Israeli military officers are holding two U.S. citizens without charge. Borak Alagha, 18, and Hashem Alagha, 20, were asleep in their relative’s home in Gaza, where they were sheltering with many of their family members.

According to family members, Israeli officers stormed the house early Thursday morning and took the men in the household, including the two teenagers who are U.S. citizens. They are currently holding them in an unknown location. Their family in the U.S., who lives in Chicago where the men were born and raised, has repeatedly asked the State Department to help evacuate their family members trapped in Gaza. The family is suing members of the Biden administration, claiming they are violating the equal protection clause of the Constitution.

Here & Now host Deepa Fernandes speaks with Yasmeen Elagha, Northwestern law student and cousin of the two American teenagers, about what she knows of the situation and how U.S. officials have responded.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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