Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met Wednesday night with the father of an Israeli believed to be held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, reportedly vowing to speak to parties that maintain influence with the terror group to secure his release.
Ethiopian Israeli Avera Mengistu has been missing since September 2014 after he was apparently seen crossing into the northern part of the Palestinian enclave from the beach.
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'We will continue to act to bring back our MIAs, including Ron Arad, Hadar Goldin, Oron Shaul, Tzvi Feldman, Avera Mengistu — just as we brought back Zechariah Baumel and Itir Naveh,' @netanyahu says on #YomHazikaron: pic.twitter.com/ODmugs5afh
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"Abbas said that he sees Avera's case as a humanitarian one and that he does not believe in taking civilians captive," former Israeli MK Shlomo Molla told The Times of Israel, accompanying Haili Mengistu in his meeting at the PA office in the West Bank's Ramallah.
"He said he will do everything, directly and indirectly, to obtain information on his whereabouts and bring him back to his family including working with parties that hold influence with Hamas," added Mollah.
According to the Mengistu family, a deterioration in Avera's mental state following the death of his brother had caused him to cross the border into Gaza, captured by IDF cameras.
He is believed to have been apprehended by Hamas forces and no details on his condition were revealed since then, reported the Hebrew-language site Walla News.
This article was originally published by i24NEWS.
