Middle East

Israel arrests Palestinian researcher as he leaves Gaza for Italia

Mahmoud Talal Al Najjar, on his way to the University of Rome Tor Vergata with a group of Palestinian students, was stopped by the Israeli army at the Kerem Shalom crossing

4 June 2026

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

The Israeli army arrested on Tuesday at the Kerem Shalom crossing Palestinian researcher Mahmoud Talal Al Najjar, originally from Jabalia, as he was leaving the Gaza Strip heading to Italia to pursue a course of study at the University of Rome Tor Vergata.

According to the Idf via a post on X by spokeswoman Ariella Mazor, the researcher is "a militiaman of the northern Hamas brigade" and allegedly participated in the 7 October 2023 massacre. The Idf did not provide any further elements to support the accusations.

The version is contested by Palestinian organisations, which deny any connection of the academic with Hamas and speak of an unjustified arrest.

The arrest came as a surprise to Cogat itself, the Israeli Defence Ministry body responsible for civil affairs in the Palestinian territories.

Detention during transit to Italia

Al Najjar was travelling with a group of 17 Palestinian students admitted to university courses in Italia. The group had obtained visas and permits after months of procedures, as part of academic mobility programmes also supported by Italian institutions.

According to reconstructions by local media and Palestinian organisations, at the time of the arrest, the researcher was crossing the Kerem Shalom crossing to leave the Strip. After his arrest, he was reportedly transferred to an unknown location, without any communication to his family or the authorities, the Palestinian Centre for Missing Persons reported.

The other 17 students in the group were later released and continued their journey to the Allenby crossing point on the Jordanian border and then to Amman. Here they spent the night at the Italian hospital before being transferred to Rome on Wednesday.

Like all the other students who left on 2 June and on previous occasions," informed sources point out, "al Nijjar had obtained all the authorisations from both the Israeli side (Cogat and other bodies under Israeli law) and the Jordanian side.

Israeli accusations and Palestinian denials

The Palestinian Centre for Missing Persons called the detention 'a further link in the chain of arbitrary detentions and subsequent systematic enforced disappearances of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip'.

The organisation claims that al Najjar is not affiliated with any political or military organisation and demands that the Israeli authorities immediately disclose his place of detention and his legal status, calling for his immediate release.

According to the Centre, the researcher's family received no official notification of his arrest and initially learned the news via social media and testimonies from colleagues and students in the same travel group.

The family added that concern was heightened after learning that the other students in the group had been released, while al Najjar would remain in detention with no indication of where he would be transferred.

The researcher's profile

According to reports from the Palestinian Centre for Missing Persons, Mahmoud Talal Al Najjar is an academic specialising in administrative sciences and had obtained a scholarship to pursue his research in Italia after receiving travel permits and official authorisation following months of investigation.

Local media also report that the researcher is said to be the only survivor of his family: his wife and children died during a bombing in Jabalia in 2024.

According to the Palestinian Centre, at least 1,500 people are believed to have been victims of enforced disappearance by Israeli forces since the beginning of the conflict.

The operation of the 17 boys is part of the initiative promoted by Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani in support of Palestinian students, which has already allowed 229 students to arrive since last autumn. This is the second evacuation after the suspension of flows following the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East. The previous group had arrived on 12 May at Fiumicino, where they were welcomed by Minister Tajani himself.