The mother of the Hamas prisoner Avera Mengistu, Agurnesh Mengistu, met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.
The weekly update follows Hamas’s earlier this month publication of an undated video allegedly featuring the Israeli guy who freely entered the Gaza Strip in 2014.
“I am Avera Mengistu, a prisoner. After the long and arduous years, how long will I and my companions be held captive here? “the man in the video states.
The bodies of two IDF soldiers killed in action during “Operation Protective Edge” in 2014, Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin, and Israeli citizen Hisham al-Sayed, are also being held by Hamas.
Al-Sayed and Mengistu both have mental health issues.
After the video was made public, Netanyahu stated, “Israel has not abandoned efforts to repatriate Avera Mengistu and the rest of our detainees and missing individuals.
We received further evidence of what we already knew—that Avera was alive. Hamas alone bears complete responsibility for the fate of this young man, who is not entirely well.
Since then, Israel’s Foreign Ministry has written to foreign leaders pleading with them to assist in securing the release of Israelis held by Hamas in Gaza.
According to the ministry, Mengistu has been detained for more than eight years “in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, without information regarding his health state and providing any means for him to contact his family or receive visits.”
חמאס פרסם סרטון של אברה מנגיסטו מהשבי לכאורה pic.twitter.com/MmpZK20rmr
— וואלה! (@WallaNews) January 16, 2023
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