Among the 33 names of captives set to be released in the first phase of a ceasefire deal with Hamas is Avera Mengistu. Unlike the majority of those listed, Mengistu was not abducted on October 7, 2023, but has spent 11 years in Hamas captivity.
Mengistu, an Israeli Jew of Ethiopian descent, was said to have been suffering from mental illness when he crossed the border into the Gaza Strip on September 7, 2014. Born in Ethiopia, he immigrated to Israel at the age of five with his family as part of Operation Solomon. He grew up in Ashkelon with his eight brothers and sisters. After his older brother, Michael, suffered from anorexia and died at the age of 29, his mental state deteriorated and he began to conduct long marches alone throughout Israel.
The now-38-year-old was 28 years old when he crossed into northern Gaza after having a fight with his mother, according to Human Rights Watch. Hamas claims that he is a soldier, a claim disputed by both Human Rights Watch and his family.
His family said, upon his release, that "Our family has endured ten years and five months of unimaginable suffering. During this time, there have been continuous efforts to secure his return, with prayers and pleas, some silent, that remained unanswered until today.
"We ask that these moments be respected, and that we be granted the peace and rest we so desperately need."
Hamas co-founder Mahmoud al-Zahar said in a September 2016 meeting with Human Rights Watch, when asked about the status of Mengistu, “there are no civilians in Israel” since all serve in the army and that “Israelis who enter Gaza are spies.”
"Avera crossed one of the safest borders in the world, under the eyes of the security services," relative Gil Elias told DW News. "We're talking about a mentally ill person who got lost."
“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.”
Sign of life
Hamas released a video of him in January 2023, where he asked Israel to negotiate for his release.
ביום חילופי הרמטכ"לים: חמאס פרסם לראשונה סרטון שבו מופיע לכאורה אברה מנגיסטו, שנפל בשבי הארגון בעזה לפני שמונה וחצי שנים pic.twitter.com/VU67P1t2MZ
— חדשות מלפני שנה (@Milifney) January 16, 2024
“It’s not my son’s voice, I know his voice. I raised my son. I recognize that part of the head,” Agurnesh Mengistu, his mother, told Channel 12 news in Amharic. “They showed me the video on the phone, several people showed it to me from all kinds of places. It’s his head but the voice is different.”
“[Netanyahu] told me, ‘we talked to the Red Cross, and they said he is alive, he is alive, he is alive.’ He is the one who always told me not to worry,” Agurnesh said. “I want my son, I want to be allowed to see my son, to look into his eyes and see him.”
"I recognized him right away," said Elias. "He looked to be in good physical shape from what we could gather."
'Israeli society's citizenship test'
Elias criticized the Israeli government, claiming the family was so staunchly Zionist that they remained silent for a year after the abduction, trusting in the government to return their loved one.
"This naivete is what's been keeping Avera in Gaza for more than nine years,” Elias said.
"I always say that Avera's case is Israeli society's citizenship test," he said. "And it's a test we have failed."
Elias’s sentiments were shared by Mengistu’s brother Ilan, who shared at a rally marking his brother’s 10th year a hostage: "Mother sits in front of the news every night to see your picture and says - 'This is how I at least know you are not forgotten.' Your country, which is supposed to care for you, is abandoning you."
Members of Israel’s Ethiopian Jewish community have claimed the lack of action to return Mengistu home over the last near-decade is a symptom of a lack of care toward the community.
"Avera's story is my story, and it's the story of the entire Ethiopian community," Michal Worke, an Israeli artist of Ethiopian descent, told NPR. "Nine years he's been a hostage in Gaza, and no one cares."
Mengistu's family now waits for his release on Saturday. Oral Shitrit, a family member and member of the "Counting for Avera" community, shared her feelings ahead of his release. "His mother and father will be able to hug him after more than a decade. I always believed that this day would come and that Avera would return," she added.
Elias said that "we have mixed feelings. On the one hand, fallen soldiers are returning from captivity, and on the other hand Avera was supposed to be released a decade ago. There is joy but our stomachs are turning."
Yanir Yagna contributed to this report.