Masked Palestinian gunmen kidnapped a BBC reporter from his car in Gaza City on Monday, Palestinian security officials said. As he was being taken, the journalist threw a business card on the street that identified him as Alan Johnston of the BBC, the officials said.

Four gunmen carried out the kidnapping, and Johnston’s car was found abandoned near his Gaza City apartment, said the officials on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak.

Police found the lease of the rental car, which stated the vehicle was rented to the BBC. After the kidnapping, Palestinian security forces set up security checks on roads leading out of Gaza City to the south.

The news network said Johnston was from Scotland and has been reporting from Gaza for the past three years. The BBC bureau chief in Jerusalem, Simon Wilson, said his news network had lost contact with Johnston but Wilson could not immediately confirm a kidnapping.

In Gaza City, a spokesman for Hamas condemned Johnston’s abduction. “We call on these criminal groups to stop this destruction of our reputation and to let this journalist free,” he said.