Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Hamas Says It Has 2 Israeli Captive and Remains of 2 Others

(JTA) — Hamas said for the first time that it is holding two Israeli men and the remains of two Israeli soldiers.

The Islamist group’s military wing released a televised statement Friday through official Hamas media, .

The statement said the group is demanding Israeli concessions in exchange for information about the condition of the “four prisoners of war.”

The two Israelis who are believed to be alive — an Ethiopian Jew and a Bedouin Israeli Arab, both said to be mentally ill — have been missing since separately crossing the border into the Gaza Strip. Hamas, which governs Gaza, had not previously acknowledged having any information about the men’s whereabouts.

Avraham Mengistu, the Ethiopian-Jew, was 29 and suffering from severe depression when he illegally wandered across the border in 2014. His family recently traveled to Geneva to appeal for international help in bringing him home.

The Bedouin, who is from the Negev, has not been publicly identified. He is said to have mild psychological issues and a history of entering Jordan, Egypt and Gaza.

The two dead Israelis whose remains are in Gaza are Lt. Hadar Goldin and St.-Sgt. Oron Shaul, both killed during Operation Protective Edge in 2014.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.