Mengistu was known to have mental issues and was known to social services organizations in his home town Ashkelon. There has been no sign of life from him since.
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Hamas denies holding Mr Mengistu, although the head of its political bureau, Khaled Meshal, said Israel had approached Hamas via European mediators to request the release of two prisoners and the bodies of two soldiers being held in Gaza. They said he then used an underground tunnel from Gaza into Egypt and he was no longer in Egypt.
One of the first issues could be determining the fate of Mengistu.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Friday visited relatives of a citizen reportedly held captive by Hamas after a top aide apologized for telling them he would suffer if they went public.
Several hundred people crowded into a central Gaza City square late Wednesday after the traditional fast-breaking meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan for a rally by Hamas’s armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades. According to Channel 2, this decision was conveyed to the families of the two men.
COGAT added that “Israel has appealed to global and regional interlocutors to demand Mangisto’s immediate release and verify his well-being”. “They didn’t do anything”, Haili Mengistu said. “We won’t give up and we’ll do everything required in order to return these civilians to their country”.
“We see Hamas as responsible for bringing him back safely”.
Israeli media had lobbied hard for permission to publish details on the case, putting pressure on the government to release information.
Israel has in the past engaged in prisoner swaps with Hamas, most notably in 2011, when Gilad Shalit, a soldier abducted by militants in a cross-border raid in 2006, was released in exchange for 1,000 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
JERUSALEM (EJP)–After a gag order was lifted on the case Thursday morning, the Israeli media reported that two Israelis are missing in the Gaza Strip.
Mengistu, 28, is an Ethiopian Israeli, and family members charged that his disappearance and possible capture by Hamas would have been treated far differently if he were not African.
Hamas will also seek the release of some of the thousands of Palestinians held by Israel, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was discussing the group’s internal deliberations.
Hamas spokesman Salah Bardawil seemed not to know about it, saying: “We don’t have any information about it. Even if is true, we don’t have instructions to talk”.
Mengistu climbed over the Gaza security fence in September previous year.
In a statement to the press outside the family’s home, Mengisto’s brother Ilan said Avra was “unwell” and asked Hamas to “release him immediately”.
“We are working for the return of two Israelis who crossed the border into Gaza”, he said.
He is one of two Israeli citizen believed to be in custody.
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“Despite well-documented evidence of war crimes committed by the Israeli military during the assault on Gaza last summer, there has been no justice and accountability for grave violations against Palestinian children”, the group said.
