Hisham al-Sayed was 27 when he wandered into southern Gaza and was promptly abducted by Hamas. Now, at age 36, the Bedouin-Israeli may be returning to his hometown al-Hura as part of the first phase of a hostage-ceasefire deal between Israel and his terrorist captors.
Sayed crossed into Gaza on April 20, 2015. He was believed to have been struggling with severe mental health issues at the time he crossed - having previously reportedly been diagnosed with schizophrenia, a “personality disorder,” and other conditions.
In 2016, Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigades published what appeared to be photoshopped photos purporting to show Sayed working as an IDF soldier, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).
'There are no civilians in Israel'
Hamas co-founder, Mahmoud al-Zahar told the NGO in September that neither Sayed nor Avera Mengistu, an Israeli of Ethiopian descent who crossed into Gaza the year prior, were civilians.
“There are no civilians in Israel,” the terror leader claimed. “Israelis who enter Gaza are spies.”
Sayed reportedly served for three months in the IDF in 2008 but was deemed “incompatible for service,” according to HRW.
Terrorist propaganda
In June 2022, before Hamas’s October 7 massacre in 2023, the terror group released a video showing Hisham al-Sayed in captivity in deteriorating health.
“Hamas likes to ask a heavy price for Israelis. They have other weapons, but this is the most important weapon they have,” Sayed’s father Sha’ban, told the Observer, adding he believed Israel was doing all that was possible to return his son.
The father told HRW that Sayed had repeatedly crossed into restricted areas while battling his mental health issues - reportedly to the West Bank at least 15 times, Jordan twice, and Gaza twice.
Sha’ban said his son “is not a soldier. He has been ill since his teenage years. He loves to walk for hours and hours, and he is very social. He likes the attention when he goes places he knows are forbidden. People usually realize quite quickly that he is ill and help him get home…
“Once, he walked to Jordan, and we managed to find him after three days. In 2010, he went to Gaza, too, and the Bedouins we know there helped return him within 24 hours. But the Hamas leadership changed in 2014, and his luck ran out.”
“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.”
“Mangistu and al-Sayed, an Ethiopian Jew and Palestinian Bedouin with mental health conditions, come from among the most marginalized communities in Israeli society,” Whitson said. “There is nothing patriotic or heroic in forcibly disappearing them.”
“The ball is in Hamas’s court. They need to make a decision and release the people of Gaza from this hell,” Sayed’s father said. “They do not deserve what they are going through.”
"In Islam, the sins of the mentally ill don't count," said Sha'aban later told DW News. "If they are only willing to release mentally ill people if they get something in return, they're acting against Islam. They should stop saying they are a Muslim organization. I say these things as a Muslim myself."
The oldest of eight children, Sayed reportedly struggled in education and later to maintain employment. He was one married but was apparently divorced a week after the wedding.
A week before he entered Gaza, Sayed had reportedly spoken to his mother about finding a new bride.
Sayed’s mother, Manal, described him to HRW as “never content with the life he has at home and always looking at other people and wishing he had what they have.”