GAZA CITY, Palestine  

Four Palestinians abducted by unidentified gunmen in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula in 2015 have been released by the Egyptian authorities, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said Thursday.

“The four men have been released and have safely returned to Gaza,” Haniyeh said, expressing his “deep gratitude to the Egyptian leadership” for the decision.

In a statement released earlier Thursday, Haniyeh had said that the issue was broached during his recent talks with Egyptian officials in Cairo.

In August of 2015, unidentified gunmen abducted the four Palestinians as they took a bus through ​​Sinai from the Rafah border crossing to Cairo.

At the time, Hamas had held the Egyptian authorities responsible for the four young men’s safety, urging Cairo to work towards securing their release.

Their fate, however, had remained unknown until now.

On Wednesday, Haniyeh and an accompanying delegation returned to Gaza following a three-week visit to Cairo for discussions with Egyptian officials.

Upon Haniyeh’s return to Gaza, group spokesman Abdel Latif al-Qanoua stated: “Hamas is satisfied with the results of the visit; Egypt understands our position on a range of issues.”

Recent months have seen an uptick in diplomatic activity involving Egypt, Israel, the Ramallah-based Palestinian government and Hamas, which has governed the Gaza Strip since 2007.