Israel says two citizens being held

in Gaza
Disappearance of Israeli-Ethiopian Avera Mengistu, who has been
missing in Gaza along with a second man, came to light after a court
lifted gag order

Isra
eli journalists report outside the apartment building of Avera Mengistu in Ashkelon. His disappearance was
revealed after the Haaretz newspaper challenged the gag order in force since his disappearance 10 months
ago. Photograph: Tsafrir Abayov/AP

Peter Beaumont in Jerusalem-Thursday 9 July 2015

An Israeli man has been missing in Gaza for almost 10 months presumed held captive by
Hamas after climbing over a border fence from a public beach adjoining the coastal strip. He
is one of two Israeli citizens held alive in Gaza.
The case of Avera Mengistu, 28, an Israeli-Ethiopian, was revealed on Thursday morning after
a court lifted a gag order that has been in force since his disappearance.
The second captive is a Bedouin man from Israels Negev desert. Israeli officials refused to
say how long he had been held in Gaza or how he got there. They also would not say which
group had him in custody.

The disappearance of Mengistu was revealed after the Israeli newspaper Haaretz challenged
the order and had it lifted. According to the newspaper, Mengistus family has been deeply
critical of the Israeli governments allegedly low-key handling of his case, saying the matter
would have been handled differently if he was white.
It said the family had not met with the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, and he had not
responded to a letter the family sent to him requesting help. A senior Israeli defence official
quoted in the Hebrew media said there was no current information on Mengistus fate, but
that he had initially been arrested by Hamas.
Hamas is also holding the bodies of two soldiers killed during last summers Gaza war Oron
Shaul and Hadar Goldin.
Mengistu, from the coastal city of Ashkelon, had apparently suffered mental health problems
in the past and is believed to have been drinking on the day of his disappearance, when he
climbed over a fence on Zikkim beach, adjoining Gaza.
On the day he disappeared, Israeli military surveillance cameras spotted a man carrying a bag
approaching the fence, who the camera operators believed was a Palestinian returning to
Gaza. When soldiers, alerted to the figure, arrived, he had already climbed the fence leaving
behind the bag, which contained a copy of the Hebrew Bible inside. It was at this point they
realised he was Israeli.
Security footage seen by Mengistus family apparently showed him walking calmly towards
the fence, which he climbed over before approaching a tent on the other side.
Speaking to Haaretz, Mengistus brother Yalo explained why the family had supported efforts
to publicise the case. We are fed up. We want to go public with his story. The day it
happened, a person from the Shin Bet security service or the police called me and said my
brother was in Gaza. I told my parents and my siblings, and thats how we found out. But no
one came to see us at our home.

Two weeks after I contacted [an Israeli MP], the commander of the Gaza division came to see
us for the first time, he told the paper. He told me they knew my brother was in Gaza, and
that they have people who are keeping track of him and will bring him back but that we
should not tell people.

Yalo Mengistu claimed that if a white person had entered Gaza, the response would have been
different. Its more than racism I call it anti-blackism, he said. I am one million percent
certain that if he were white, we would not have come to a situation like this.
Yaakov Peri, an Israeli MP and former head of the Israel security service who has been briefed
on the situation, said every effort was being made to bring Mengistu and the bodies of the
Israeli soldiers back.
He added that there were several cases of people crossing the fence each year.

Object 1

Adding fresh details in a conference call with reporters, Peri said: [Mengistu] went missing
between 7-8th September two weeks after the end of [operation] Protective Edge. The Israeli
authorities identified his name and a couple of days later approached his family in Ashkelon
and told them he crossed into Gaza and is being held by Hamas.

Hamas said in the beginning it didnt know anything about him. Several weeks later they
said he was in Gaza but that they were not holding him. A couple of weeks after that they said
he had left for Egypt. We know that is not true and that he is still probably being held by
Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and since then we have been trying to bring him back.

For its own reasons Hamas has been keeping clandestine what is happening with him. My
assessment is that Hamas will try to connect him [to negotiations for the return of the bodies]
of two Israeli soldiers who were killed in operation Protective Edge.
Israels president, Reuven Rivlin, called on Thursday for Mengistu to be released on
humanitarian grounds.

This is a painful situation which I have been following closely since it began. I am in

contact with the Mengistu family and I know that all the relevant authorities have been
working tirelessly, and monitoring the issue closely, from the moment [he] crossed over the
fence.

This is a humanitarian issue, and we expect those holding him to behave accordingly and
return him in good health. According to the information which has arisen, Mengistu is being
held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. We will continue to make every effort in order to bring an
end to this incident, as soon as possible.
Netanyahu said: We are working to return the two Israelis who crossed the fence into Gaza.
We hold Hamas responsible for their welfare. I have appointed a representative to coordinate
all activity on the issue and to be in contact with the families.
Hamas officials have denied that Mengistu is in their custody but did not dismiss the
possibility that he had been held after crossing the border.
Posted by Thavam