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2 Israelis held in Gaza Strip: Israeli court

Xinhua, July 9, 2015 Adjust font size:

Two Israelis have been held in captivity in Gaza during the past several months after crossing the border into the strip on separate occasions, an Israeli court cleared for publication on Thursday.

An Ethiopian-Israeli, Avraham Mengistu, from the southern coastal city of Ashkelon, crossed the border into the Gaza Strip in September 2014 and is believed to have been held captive since then by Hamas.

It has been revealed as the Ashkelon magistrate court in southern Israel lifted a gag order at the request of Israeli newspapers Ha'aretz and Yedioth Aharonot.

The other person, whose name was not released, is apparently a Bedouin-Israeli from southern Israel who had crossed several times into the strip in the past, the Israeli Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The two cases do not appear to be related, and no further information has been released on the Bedouin man who is believed to be in Gaza.

According to the Hebrew-based Walla news website, Mengistu was last seen by witnesses jumping over the border fence with Gaza in the area of Zikim beach in the southern Israeli coastal plain.

Israeli officials believe that Mengistu is still alive. It is not certain at the moment whether Hamas is still holding him or whether the organization has freed him and let him go to the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, an official told Xinhua.

In any case Israel is "continuing efforts to bring the incident to a close and bring home the Israeli citizen," according to an official statement.

Mengistu's family, in the meantime, complained of racism in the handling of the disappearance of their son, adding that if he were white, the reaction by Israeli officials would have been different. The family, according to the Ha'aretz daily, had not met with the Israeli prime minister and did not receive a response from him over a letter they sent regarding the incident.

Hamas leaders have made statements recently regarding talks with Israel over the exchange of bodies of Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, two Israeli soldiers who were killed in the Gaza Strip during last summer's war, possibly alluding to the presence of living Israeli captives as well.

Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal told an Arab newspaper on Wednesday that Israel wants European involvement in negotiations to free Israeli soldiers and captives, adding that Hamas "won't let Israeli prisoners go before the release of Palestinian prisoners."

Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in 2007. There have been few attempts by Israelis to cross into the strip in the past, mostly in cases of apparent mental illness. Endit