Two hostages of Portuguese nationality remain trapped in the Gaza Strip and their current situation is unknown following the October 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement, the foreign minister said in parliament on Tuesday.
According to Paulo Rangel, who said he could not provide details, the hostages included three nationals, one of whom was recently found dead.
As for the other two, the minister said he did not know their situation but said they received Portuguese citizenship before the Hamas attack in which the Islamist group took more than 200 hostages.
Paulo Rangel spoke at a hearing on the situation in the Gaza Strip in the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs and Portuguese communities at the request of the Bloc de Esquerda and the PCP and answered a question from Liberal Initiative deputy Rodrigo Saraiva about the presence of Portuguese among the hostages.
Portuguese-Israeli national Dror Or, 49, was killed and his body held in the Gaza Strip since October 7 last year, Israeli authorities and his family announced in May.
Dror Ora’s wife was killed in the attack, and two of his three sons, ages 17 and 13, were kidnapped and later released under a truce agreement between Israel and Hamas in late November.
On the other hand, communist MP Paula Santos asked the minister questions about measures to expel family members of a Portuguese citizen trapped in the Gaza Strip.
The official clarified that the Portuguese is married to a Luxembourg woman, whose family is in the Palestinian enclave, so the authorities of this country must respond to this situation.