Israel says citizen being held by Hamas in Gaza Strip

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

World | Thu Jul 9, 2015 7:26am EDT

Israel says citizen being held by Hamas in Gaza Strip

JERUSALEM | BY ORI LEWIS

An Israeli civilian is being held against his will by the Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Israel said on Thursday.

Hamas, the Palestinian enclave's dominant faction, declined to comment.

Israel suspects militants in Gaza would use its citizens to bargain for the release of Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

Israel's Defence Ministry said there was "credible intelligence" that Avraham Mangisto, 26, a resident of Ashkelon, the nearest Israeli city to the Gaza Strip, "is being held against his will by Hamas in Gaza". It said he had crossed the border on foot on Sept. 7, 2014.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/09/us-israel-palestinians-disappearance-idUSKCN0PJ0I920150709

[leveymg]

1. omg, here we go again.

[oberliner]

2. There are a lot of odd elements to this story

Most predominately the fact that he supposedly entered Gaza voluntarily almost a year ago.

[grossproffit]

3. "Mengistu previously was prone to disappearing and suffered from mental illness."

Israeli media reported that Mengistu previously was prone to disappearing and suffered from mental illness.

His brother, Ilan, alluded to that at a press conference on Thursday, saying that Mangisto "is not healthy" and urging his release.

"I'm asking the international community to engage and use their power to free my brother," he told reporters. I call Hamas and ask them to take into consideration his health and to release him immediately."

Earlier, father Ayelin Mengistu told Israel's Channel 2 News that his son "used to go missing" for a few days at a time and was depressed after another brother's suicide.

Israeli Cabinet Minister Yaakov Peri told reporters Thursday that Israel had a "moral obligation" to secure Mengistu freedom.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/hamas-holding-israeli-avraham-mengistu-gaza-officials-n389106[link:http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/hamas-holding-israeli-avraham-mengistu-gaza-officials-n389106|

[Israeli]

4. Archaic gag order lifted: Two Israeli civilians being held in Gaza

This is the third time in five years — that we can discuss — in which Israeli authorities have tried to use comprehensive gag orders to stop the publication of stories of public interest. This also is the third time that the Internet has made a mockery of such efforts to control information.

http://972mag.com/archaic-gag-order-lifted-two-israeli-civilians-being-held-in-gaza/108684/

A blanket gag order was imposed last year on publication of the story in all Israeli media outlets, which prohibited even the citing of foreign media reports. The story was circulated informally starting late last year. A number of Ethiopian-Israelis dared to start a campaign for his release in recent months by wearing shirts that read “Avera Mengistu?” at anti-racism protests. In early June, American blogger Richard Silverstein published the story in English. Silverstein has been used by Israeli journalists to leak stories under severe gag orders in the past.

http://www.mintpressnews.com/israeli-government-abandons-ethiopian-israeli-reportedly-held-captive-in-gaza/206112/

[Israeli]

5. PM envoy warned Mangisto family against public criticism

Channel 10 report reveals recording of Netanyahu representative threatening family of missing Israeli while ministers say they were never updated on the situation.

Attila Somfalvi
Latest Update: 07.09.15, 22:07 / Israel News

Lior Lotan, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's representative, warned the family of missing Israeli Avraham Mangisto against public criticism of Netanyhu, as such actions would "keep him in Gaza for another year," a Channel 10 report revealed on Thursday.

Channel 10 aired a recording of the dramatic conversation between Lotan and the family. "Whoever connects Avra with the story between the Ethiopian community and the State of Israel will leave him in Gaza for another year," said Lotan referrencing recent protests led by Ethiopian-Israelis against racism.

Lotan also warned the family against documenting the meeting saying, "This is unacceptable. Meetings with me don't get documented." Mangisto's brother can be heard in the recording trying to interject, but Lotan stopped him, saying, "Don't get into these things with me please, I'm an older man than you. Decide what you want - to work together or make a scene and manipulate us."

Several hours after the lifting of the gag order on Thursday, it is becoming more and more apparent that the ministers in the Security Cabinet and the members of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee were not officially briefed about the disappearance of two Israelis in the Gaza Strip.

Avraham Mangisto, 29 years old 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.

"Even as a minister and a member of cabinet, we were not briefed on the story," said Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman, who served as a foreign minister in the first two months after the two Israelis crossed the border into Gaza.

"Even I ask myself how come we weren't updated," another minister said.

The chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Likud MK Tzachi Hanegbi, said on the radio on Thursday, "You'd be surprised, I had no idea. I really was surprised. I read about it on Ynet this morning. I called the director of the committee and asked him if the committee heard a report about this and he told me that at the time during a report from the Shin Bet, there was something that was presented as minor, and he hasn't heard about it since."

Another minister, who is well-versed in highly-sensitive issues, said some of the members of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee were updated on the incident, but even that happened after they came by the story independently and sought explanations.

Former minister Yaakov Peri told Ynet he first learned of the story from his former Yesh Atid faction member Pnina Tamano-Shata.

"About a month after he disappeared, my fellow faction member Pnina Tamano-Shata turned to me, telling me he disappeared and that the family knew he went to Gaza. I asked around and it turned out to be true. For reasons I won't elaborate on, the State of Israel decided not to let it be published," Peri said.

Officials in the Prime Minister's Office said in response: "Since this is an issue that did not require a cabinet decision, the cabinet ministers were not updated."

Source: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4678225,00.html