Two Israelis are believed to be held captive in the Gaza Strip, one of them missing for ten months, it was revealed on Thursday morning following the lifting of a gag order.
One of them, Avraham Mangisto, 29 from Ashkelon, has gone missing in the early hours of September 8, 2014, and was seen crossing the border into Gaza out of his own volition. A second citizen, a Bedouin resident of the south, has also crossed the border into the Strip, also of his own accord, several months later.
Mangisto was seen walking on the beach, heading south. He reached the Zikim beach area, and continued walking south until he crossed an electric fence that divide Israel from Gaza. The fence starts on the beach and continues into the water.
Security forces stationed in the area noticed the man after he had crossed the border, and forces were immediately dispatched to the area, including a helicopter and ground troops. Mangisto continued on his path into Gaza and never returned.
Over the past ten months, Israel has been trying to hold secret negotiations for the return of the two Israelis as well as the bodies of IDF soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin, who were killed during Operation Protective Edge and whose bodies were snatched by Hamas.
However, according to a senior Palestinian official in the Gaza Strip, Mangisto was held by Hamas in Gaza at one point but was released after they realized he was not a soldier. According to the source, Hamas announced that Mengisto had left Gaza through tunnels in Rafah and continued on to Egypt, and that he is no longer in Gaza.
Mangisto is allegedly mentally ill and is known to the Ashkelon social services. The Ethiopian immigrant had left his home and gone missing for days at a time on numerous occasions in the past. His family reported three different cases in the past in which he left home and failed to return.
A joint investigation was launched by the Shin Bet and the Southern District Police’s terrorism unit.
‘Israel doesn’t seem to care about Avraham’
After the lifting of the gag order on Thursday, Mangisto’s family held a press, urging Hamas to release him and calling on the government of Israel to make efforts to bring him home.
“Now that the story of my brother has finally come out, we will no longer remain silent,” the missing man’s brother, Yalu Mangisto, told Yedioth Ashkelon.
“There will be rallies and demonstrations, there will be media coverage and especially, we will be talking. They will hear us. We have lost confidence in the country and it seems like it does not care about our brother. The prime minister bothered to contact us only this week, on Wednesday. We sent him a letter at the beginning of the incident and he could not find the time to meet with us.”
Hamas blows the lid on case
The lifting of the gag order came after Hamas leader Khaled Mashal claimed Wednesday that Israel has been sending messages to the group through a European intermediary, asking the organization to return the bodies of two soldiers in their possession since Operation Protective Edge – Staff Sergeant Oron Shaul and Sec.-Lit. Hadar Goldin.
The military wing of Hamas, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, held a mass rally in Rafah in September of 2014. On the day of the rally, a display was erected in Rafah – a tall pole with a big black square attached to it with the writing “the black box” in Hebrew and Arabic. The sign, which Hamas failed to explain, caused a stir in Gaza, and the Palestinian media in the Strip tried to no avail to figure out the nature of the vague message.
Hamas apparently hoped that the case would be reported in Israeli media, but began pushing the issue in Arab media sources when they realized that a gag order had prevented reports from emerging that would reach the Israeli public. From there, the story reached international media – specifically bloggers, as official news agencies could not verify the story through the Israeli government.
at least one of the two is not jewish (arab).
the first one is ethiopian- not sure if jewish or not but in any case he went there from his own will. He was not mentally disturbed- as far as what his father told the media- he was just in dipression. well well, why should we all go nuts from two people who went there from theyre own will? as sad as this sounds…now all the lefties will push the goverment to free more terrorists…. there is NO reason to free terrorists for those two!
Hope you’re right
Two Israelis who crossed into Gaza were never Hamas hostages DEBKAfile July 9, 2015, 5:29 PM (IDT) Israeli media made much ado Thursday about an Israeli-Ethiopian man, Avera Mengistu, 28, “presumed held captive by Hamas” – after climbing over a border fence from a public beach in Ashkelon adjoining the coastal strip, and a Bedouin man from the Israeli Negev “held in custody” in Gaza. DEBKAfile clarifies these misleading reports. Mengistu, who is mentally disturbed, keeps on climbing the fence in to the Gaza Strip and has done so since last September. The Hamas authorities always send him back. He… Read more »
To #2 that’s like saying ״ why help save the Jewish women who go with Arab men” well we still care about people no matter what! And especially in this case the man is mentally ill and needs help. Obviously Israel should help get him back. That’s only moral.
how can the country sve people who go there on their own accord
sooo scary