Palestinian resistance movement Hamas said Italian peace activist who was kidnapped by an armed assailants has been found dead in a home in the blockaded Gaza Strip

Palestinian resistance movement Hamas said Italian peace activist who was kidnapped by an armed assailants has been found dead in a home in the blockaded Gaza Strip.

The officials said Hamas police stormed an apartment in Gaza Strip belonging to a member of the group that released a video of the activist, identified as Vittorio Arrigoni.

In a statement, the Hamas interior ministry said the man was killed shortly after he was abducted at midday on Thursday. The government also condemned "the heinous crime that does not reflect our values, our religion or our customs and traditions," the statement said, vowing to hunt down those responsible.

Arrigoni was abducted by a group which is said to be an offshoot of al-Qaeda, Ma'an news agency reported on Friday.

Hamas said it has arrested two suspects in connection with the murder, adding that those who killed the Italian -- deliberately or without purpose -- served Israel's interests.

The slain peace campaigner worked with a pro-Palestinian group called the International Solidarity Movement (ISM).

Huwaida Arraf, a co-founder of the ISM, confirmed that Arrigoni's body was identified by staff in Gaza City. "It's unbelievable," she said. "He was more Palestinian than the criminals that killed him."