Hamas is using the issue of Israeli captives to try to cover up for its losses in its last escalation with Israel, the government’s chief negotiator for the release of hostages, Yaron Blum, said Sunday night.

He made his remarks after Hamas released a tape to Al Jazeera that it claimed was of an Israeli captive.

Hamas has held two mentally ill Israeli civilians, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, in captivity since 2014 and 2015, respectively, and the bodies of two soldiers, Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, since 2014.
In the recording, someone speaking in awkward and heavily accented Hebrew says he is an Israeli soldier “in the captivity of [Izzadin] al-Qassam Brigades” – though no living soldiers are known to be held in Gaza – and that he “dies every day.”
“I hope the State of Israel still exists... I hope I will soon be in the arms of my family,” he says.
Hamas has “bargaining chips to complete a respectable prisoner-exchange deal, and the inmates are the most important thing that is now on the table,” Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades, the so-called “military” wing of Hamas, told Al Jazeera.
“Hamas is in distress after the severe blows it suffered in Operation Guardian of the Walls and is using cheap and transparent manipulation,” Blum said.
“Israel is well aware of the situation of the boys Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, of blessed memory, and of the two civilians, Avera Mengistu and Hisham Al-Sayed, who crossed the border while they were still alive,” he said. “Israel will continue to act with determination and responsibility to bring back the boys and the civilians.”
Mengistu’s mother said it was not her son’s voice in the recording.
“I am waiting for my son and hope to meet him soon, like they always promised me,” she told Israeli media outlets.
Al Jazeera also showed previously unseen footage of former captive soldier Gilad Schalit, who was released in 2011 in exchange for 1,027 terrorists. Schalit is seen exercising on an elliptical machine, doing push-ups and sit-ups, and getting shaved, all in a sparsely furnished room.

Issa told Al Jazeera he was in charge of keeping Schalit hidden. The Palestinian Authority and Egypt had tried to secure Schalit’s release earlier, he said, adding that Hamas moved him from place to place, leaking disinformation about his location.

Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.