BICOM

Supporters gathered in Habima Square in Tel Aviv last night to commemorate three years since Abera Mengistu was taken prisoner by Hamas.

Mengistu’s father Haili spoke to the crowd in his native Amharic, saying that his family “only sees darkness… we don’t see light at the end of the tunnel”.

Mengistu’s older brother told the crowd: “Unfortunately, today we are commemorating three years that Abera has been in captivity. There isn’t one day that mom doesn’t pray for you to come home. We’ll continue to yell, to fight, until you come home, healthy and whole.”

Mengistu’s mother, Agurnesh, said that she can’t understand how Hamas can keep her son locked up for this long. “Are their hearts made of stone? Do they not have children,” she said.

On 7 September 2014 Mengistu crossed into the Gaza Strip from the beach at Zikim. According to his parents, the then 28-year-old suffered from mental health problems and didn’t understand what he was doing when he entered Gaza. Once inside, Mengistu was captured by Hamas.

In addition to Mengistu, Hamas is also believed to hold the bodies of IDF soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul as well as Hisham al-Sayed and Juma Ibrahim Abu Ghanima, who both crossed the border into Gaza.

Last week Lior Lotan, the Israeli official in charge of prisoners and missing persons, resigned from his post. Lotan said in September 2016 that Hamas rejected two separate proposals to return the bodies of the two Israeli soldiers and three Israeli civilians.

Defence Minister Avigdor Liberman argued last week that Israel should stop releasing Palestinian security prisoners in exchange for captive Israelis, saying there was no easy way to bring back Israelis held by Hamas in Gaza.