Israel announces that two Israelis are currently in Gaza

Major General Yoav Mordechai, the Israeli coordinator for government activities in the territories, announced that two Israeli citizens are currently in the Gaza Strip.

He claimed that Hamas has detained one of them, 29-year-old Ethiopian Israeli citizen Avraham Mengisto, who is a resident of Ashkelon.

Mordechai said in a statement: “This man, Avraham Mengisto, crossed the security fence surrounding the Gaza Strip by his own will on September 7 2014 and entered Gaza.”

He stressed that Israel will continue to make every effort to close this case.

Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth revealed that the second detainee is a resident of the Bedouin village Hura in the Negev and that he suffered from “psychological and mental health issues”. According to the newspaper, he crossed over the border fence three months ago.

Mordechai said in his statement that the second individual has crossed the border into Gaza several times in the past.