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| Two Israeli citizens believed to be held in Gaza | Two Israeli citizens believed to be held in Gaza |
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| 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 who it is believed are being held alive in Gaza. | 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 who it is believed are being held alive in Gaza. |
| The case of Avera Mengistu, a 28-year-old Israeli-Ethiopian, was revealed on Thursday morning after a court lifted a gag order that has been in force since his disappearance. The second man is believed to be a non-Jewish citizen of Israel, reportedly a Bedouin who crossed into Gaza several months ago. | |
| The disappearance of Mengistu was revealed after the Israeli newspaper Haaretz challenged the gag order and had it lifted. According to the newspaper, Mengistu’s family has been deeply critical of the Israeli government’s allegedly low-key handling of his case, saying the matter would have been handled differently if he was white. | |
| It added the family had not met with the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, and that 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 Mengistu’s fate but that he had initially been arrested by Hamas. | |
| Related: UN accuses Israel and Hamas of possible war crimes during 2014 Gaza conflict | Related: UN accuses Israel and Hamas of possible war crimes during 2014 Gaza conflict |
| Mengistu is one of two Israeli citizens the country’s intelligence services believe are being held alive by Hamas, along with the bodies of two soldiers killed during last summer’s Gaza war – Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin. | Mengistu is one of two Israeli citizens the country’s intelligence services believe are being held alive by Hamas, along with the bodies of two soldiers killed during last summer’s 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 Mengistu’s family apparently showed him walking calmly towards the fence, which he climbed over before approaching a tent on the other side. | Security footage seen by Mengistu’s family apparently showed him walking calmly towards the fence, which he climbed over before approaching a tent on the other side. |
| Related: Gaza: how it looks one year after the conflict – then and now | Related: Gaza: how it looks one year after the conflict – then and now |
| Speaking to Haaretz, Mengistu’s 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 that’s how we found out. But no one came to see us at our home. | Speaking to Haaretz, Mengistu’s 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 that’s 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,” Yalo 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.” | “Two weeks after I contacted [an Israeli MP], the commander of the Gaza division came to see us for the first time,” Yalo 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. “It’s 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.” | |
| Hamas officials have denied that Mengistu was in their custody but did not dismiss the possibility that he had been held after crossing the border. | Hamas officials have denied that Mengistu was in their custody but did not dismiss the possibility that he had been held after crossing the border. |