Avera Mengistu

Avera Mengistu (Hebrew: אברה מנגיסטו, Amharic: አበራ መንግስቱ^?) is an Israeli Ethiopian Jew from Ashkelon, Israel, who crossed into Gaza through Zikim beach on September 7, 2014. He was interrogated by Hamas. He has been missing since then.^[1] His family has stated that he is mentally unstable and had been admitted to a mental hospital in the past. He had been treated with medication, which he stopped taking a few weeks prior to his crossing.^[2]

On the day he disappeared, Mengistu was spotted near the security fence with Gaza carrying a bag. Israeli Patrol who were guarding electrical work at the time saw him and let him pass. By the time the camera on the watch tower has called the patrols attention to Mengistu it was too late. A soldier on the scene stated that he though Avera was a Sudanese refugee who had decided to move to Gaza. ^[3] Israel contacted the Red Cross and officials in the Gaza Strip and demanded that Mengistu be returned to Israel.^[1]

Background

Mengistu was born in Ethiopia and made aliyah (i.e., immigrated to Israel) with his parents and 6 siblings. He grew up in the southern development town of Ashkelon, which is twenty kilometers (twelve miles) from Gaza. He went to school in the Israeli public school system.

In a column in The Jerusalem Post, Tal Harris described the Mengistu family as extremely underprivileged and belonging to the poorest socio-economic sector of Israeli society.^[4]

Around 2011, Mengistu's older brother, with whom he was very close, died from an illness. Mengistu's mental condition began to deteriorate; he was hospitalized in a mental facility twice and received psychiatric and medicinal treatment.^[3]

Incident

On September 7, 2014, Mengistu walked on the beach in the Zikim area and arrived at the security fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip. The camera on the watch tower tracked his movements and notified the border patrol. They arrived and called for him to stop but he continued to walk towards the fence and ultimately crossed into Gaza.^[3] Since then, he has not been seen by any Israeli.^[5]

Initially, a Hamas official said Mengistu was interrogated and seemed to have psychological problems. Israeli officials said there is "credible intelligence" that Hamas holds Mengistu "against his will".^[6] Later, Moussa Abu Marzouk, deputy chairman of Hamas' political bureau, said in an interview with Al Jazeera that Mengistu wore a uniform, was mentally healthy, and that his case had came up during truce negotiations related to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, which took place weeks before the date Israel says Mengistu crossed into Gaza.^[2]

Gag order

In Israel, a blanket gag order regarding the incident was put into place. It lasted 10 months, until July 9, 2015. Discussions took place in social media forums and some reports were published on foreign websites.^[1] Some clues about the affair were leaked to different Arabic media outlets, from which the story made its way to international media and was published by blogger Richard Silverstein.^[7] The gag order was lifted following a request from Haaretz.^[1] The Associated Press speculated that a statement made by Khaled Mashaal the previous day, in which he spoke of an Israeli request through a European intermediary for the release of "two soldiers and two bodies", may have "forced Israel's hand".^[6]

Amir Rapaport of Makor Rishon wrote, "The main reason for the low profile in which the incident was dealt with was the fear that public announcement will make it difficult for Hamas to return Mengistu to Israel, since a massive [Palestinian] public pressure will be applied to Hamas to not return him without an extensive deal of prisoners swap".^[8]

Diplomatic efforts

The Mengistu family went to Geneva in 2015 to meet with human rights organizations, including the Red Cross and Amnesty International, in an effort to gain their assistance and to put pressure on Hamas to release Avera. The family provided medical documentation of his hospitalizations and his need for daily medication and therapy, as well as proof he did not serve in the army, carry any weapon, and was in no way involved in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The family returned to Israel with the promise of help.^[9]

The Human Rights Watch condemned the “illegal” detention of two Israeli citizens by Hamas, releasing new details about the men who are believed to be mentally ill.Both men suffer from serious mental health issues, the HRW report said. Hamas media has claimed the two were soldiers, but HRW said Mengistu was rejected by the Israel Defense Forces on medical grounds. “No demand can justify disappearing and bartering over the lives of men, particularly those with serious mental health conditions,” said Omar Shakir, HRW director for Israel and the Palestinian territories.

“Hamas’s refusal to confirm its apparent prolonged detention of men with mental health conditions and no connection to the hostilities is cruel and indefensible,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “No grievance or objective can justify holding people incommunicado and bartering over their fates.”

Allegations of racist bias

Critics say the Mengistu family is being treated poorly because of their Ethiopian ethnicity. Avera's brother, Yalo, has stated that if Avera were white, the affair would have been handled differently.^[1] A message sent on Hamas' Twitter account said, "Obviously, the real Israeli motto is 'leave no Ashkenazi man behind,'" an apparent reference to the military and diplomatic efforts made by Israel on behalf of captured soldier Gilad Shalit and the lack of such efforts on Mengistu's behalf.^[10]

Hamas demands

In 2016, Hamas demanded the release of 60 Palestinian prisoners who were released as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange and subsequently rearrested as the "entry fee" to start negotiating for the release of Mengistu and for the separation of his negotiation from other issues.^[11][12] An unnamed Israeli official said in July 2016 that Hamas wanted a deal similar to the Shalit exchange, in which hundreds of prisoners would be released in return for the bodies of IDF soldier Oron Shaul and IDF officer Hadar Goldin and the living civilians Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, an Israeli Bedouin held by Hamas.^[13]

See also

• Elhanan Tannenbaum
• List of missing people

References