Father of Israeli-Beduin man missing in Gaza: The ball is in Hamas' court

Sha'aban al-Sayed, whose son Hisham disappeared in Gaza in 2015, dismisses recent protests held over the Israel-Turkey deal as unhelpful.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Updated: JULY 5, 2016 12:45
Sha'aban al-Sayed, father of Hisham, a Beduin Israeli who disappeared a year beforehand from his home in the Negev desert, shows a photo of his son at their family home in Hura on April 13, 2016 (photo credit: YOAV LEMMER/AFP)
Sha'aban al-Sayed, father of Hisham, a Beduin Israeli who disappeared a year beforehand from his home in the Negev desert, shows a photo of his son at their family home in Hura on April 13, 2016
(photo credit: YOAV LEMMER/AFP)
The father of a young Israeli-Beduin man who went missing in Gaza in 2015 said Tuesday that pressuring the Israeli government to retrieve the two Israelis citizens thought to be held by Hamas, along with the missing bodies of two IDF soldiers, will not help the matter, but rather, it will cause harm.
"The ball is on their side, on Hamas' side," Sha'aban al-Sayed told Army Radio. He added that international pressure is needed on Turkey and on the states that have diplomatic relations with Hamas.
"Turkey isn't Hamas and they are also trying to assist in this matter," he stated.
According to al-Sayed, his son, Hisham, suffers from schizophrenia. He added that when his son crossed into the Gaza Strip in April 2015, it wasn't the first time he had displayed such behavior.
Sha'aban al-Sayed stated that his son had traversed the border with Gaza twice before, and both times he had been immediately returned.
Since his third entrance into Gaza, Hamas has not released signs of life, however al-Sayed said that his family is aware that Hisham is alive due to information provided by the state and insider sources with knowledge of the incident.
In the interview with Army Radio, the elder al-Sayed explained that his family has not participated in the various recent protests held over the Israel-Turkey reconciliation deal, dismissing them as unhelpful.
The families of Avraham “Abera” Mengistu, who is missing in Gaza, and the relatives of Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin - the two IDF soldiers whose bodies are thought to have been held by Hamas since the 2014 war in Gaza - have vocally lobbied against the accord because it doesn't demand the return of their sons.
"We didn't make noise in the media because nothing would come out of it," al-Sayed told Army Radio.