Hamas broadcasts a video that would be of an Israeli captured in Gaza in 2014

Hamas released a video on Monday showing, according to the Palestinian Islamist militant group, an Israeli citizen held captive in the Gaza Strip. The unverified images of the man are the first since he was captured in the area in 2014.

The undated video shows a man, identified by Hamas as the Israeli civilian Avera Mengistusitting in front of a blank wall and talking for about 10 seconds, asking for help from Israel. Its release appeared to be an effort to pressure the Jewish state into carrying out a prisoner swap.

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Mengistu, who according to his family suffers from mental health problems, crossed into Loop in 2014 and has been in captivity ever since.

The video was published in Israeli media, but Israel did not confirm Mengistu’s identity. Reuters could not immediately contact his family.

The Ynet news website quoted his family as saying it appeared to be him in the footage and that it was the first time they had seen him since he was captured.

In his video, Hamas mentions the new Israeli general, officially appointed Monday, but does not elaborate on the state of Mengistu.

In June, Hamas distributed another video allegedly showing a second captive Israeli civilian.

#Hamas has published a video they say shows Avera Mengistu. It is unclear if the video is authentic and when it was filmed.

The video comes to place pressure on the new @IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi. pic.twitter.com/ygzMzj4qny

— Tzvi Joffre (@TzviJoffre) January 16, 2023

Israel claims Hamas is holding two Israeli civilians and the remains of two of its soldiers killed in the 2014 Israel-Gaza war. The civilians are believed to have voluntarily crossed into Loop for unknown reasons.

In the past, Israel has engaged in prisoner swaps with HamasMost notably in 2011, when Gilad Shalit, a soldier kidnapped by militants in a 2006 cross-border raid, was released in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.