France 24, an international network, has quoted a Hamas official as saying Sunday, June 17, that the journalist could be freed "within hours", but as time passed by it became clear there were apparently stil stumbling blocks.
Johnston, 45, was seized on March 12 in the Gaza Strip while on his way home from work. The journalist, has been held longer than any other international kidnapped in the Palestinian territories.
More than 100,000 people signed an online petition demanding Johnston’s release, the BBC said earlier. There have also been prayer vigils throughout the world while Palestinian journalists organized several protests and campaigns in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip demanding the release of Johnston.
Sunday’s announcement about his possibly release came shortly after Hamas gunmen took control over the Gaza Strip, effectively splitting the Palestinian territories, amid an ongoing power struggle between Hamas and its rival faction, Fatah.
CHRISTIANS INDOORS
Minority Christians, who stay mainly indoors, have been especially hard hit amid concerns about an increase of Muslim extremism in the region, aid workers told BosNewsLife. Johnston’s kidnapping also showed that Westerners have increasingly become a potential target for kidnappings and attacks, observers have said.
A spokesperson for Hamas, Abu Obeideh, reportedly said however his group would "not allow" the continued detention of Johnston, who was the only international correspondent permanently stationed in the Gaza Strip. "We warn against not releasing him," the spokesperson added in comments released by the International Middle East Media Center (IMEMC).
Johnston, was kidnapped by a previously unknown group calling themselves ‘Jaish al-Islam’. His captors have recently released a video showing Johnston alive.
Palestinian officials indicated that they knew where Johnston was being held, but the British government reportedly asked that they refrain from mounting a rescue attempt amid fears the journalist may be killed in such an operation. It was not immediately clear what action, if anything, the more radical Hamas had planned to win the Johnston’s release. (With reports from Gaza).
