An indictment was filed in the Jerusalem Magistrates Court against a citizen of Ethiopia and an Eritrean citizen on Thursday charging them with conspiring to kidnap workers from Africa who tried to infiltrate Israel. According to the indictment, the two worked with gangs in Egypt, contacts in Israel and other collaborators when the workers were held captive and subject to abuse in the Sinai peninsula. The kidnappers also demanded ransom from the victims' families in Israel.

Two workers, also citizens of Ethiopia and an Eritrea, complained to the police about the abductions during the past two months. A third suspect, also a citizen of Eritrea, was detained for questioning and released under restrictions.