Palestinian security officers and British diplomats in Gaza are continuing efforts to secure the release of three members of a British family kidnapped yesterday.
Kate Burton, a 24-year-old human rights worker, was snatched at gunpoint along with her parents in the town of Rafah, close to the border with Egypt.
In a statement released by the British Foreign Office, the family of the three said they were deeply concerned about them. The statement described Kate as a warm and loving person who had been working as a volunteer in Gaza for the past year trying to do what she could to help the situation there.
Meanwhile in the West Bank, an Israeli soldier and two Palestinians are reported to have been killed when a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up at a roadblock near the town of Tulkarm.
The Israeli army said that an Israeli soldier and two Palestinians were killed in the attack, as well as the bomber, and that three soldiers and six Palestinians were wounded.
The army said the roadblock had been set up in response to intelligence warnings that a bomber was heading to Israel to strike during the current Hanukkah holiday.
Israel Radio has reported that the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group carried out the bombing, but officials from the group in Gaza could not confirm this.
An informal truce by militant groups is due to expire at the end of the year.
