GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - A photographer for the French news agency Agence France Presse was kidnapped in Gaza City on Monday just before sundown, the news agency and security officials said.

AFP identified the photographer as Jaime Razuri, 50, from Peru.

Palestinian security officials said the kidnapping happened in central Gaza City, in the area where many foreign news agencies have offices. They said Razuri was standing at an intersection when about five masked men approached him, pushed him in a car and sped away.

The security officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release details.

The abduction is the latest in a string of kidnappings of foreigners in Gaza in recent months. Most have been carried out by disgruntled workers seeking promises of payment of long overdue salaries or splinter militant groups. In most cases, the victims have been released unharmed within hours. An exception was the abduction of two Fox News employees over the summer -- they were held for two weeks.

Most of the kidnapped foreigners have been journalists, but aid workers have also been targets.