Saturday marked 11 months of captivity for many of the hostages held in Gaza by Hamas, but for Avera Mengistu, an Israeli taken captive in 2014, Saturday marked his tenth year in Hamas captivity.
A rally to call for the release of Mengistu occurred on Sunday evening in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square. Mengistu’s parents and brother spoke at the rally as well as the brother of Hadar Goldin, whose body has been held by Hamas for over 10 years since he was killed during Operation Protective Edge in 2014, and the brother of Hisham al-Sayed, who has been held by Hamas since 2015. The body of Oron Shaul who, like Goldin, fell in Gaza during the 2014 operation, has also been held by Hamas.
Avera's father, Ayelin Mengistu, spoke about his son: "He entered Gaza and did not intend to stay there. There are three more - Hadar, Oron, and Hisham. Recently, children, parents, mothers, and fathers have joined. It hurts my heart to see people who are murdered there and come back dead."
Ilan, Avera's brother, added: "Mother sits in front of the news every night to see your picture and says - 'This is how I at least know you are not forgotten.' Your country, which is supposed to care for you, is abandoning you."
Mengistu and al-Sayed are both believed to be alive, and videos of both have been released by the terror organization.
Both men are believed to have psychiatric disabilities, which caused them to wander into Gaza.
“Let’s show Avera and his family that we will not give up until he is safely home,” said the forum Fighting to Free Avera Mengistu.
“The public is invited to come and express the pain and shock that we all feel after 10 years of abandonment in Hamas captivity.”
“There has been almost no attention from the state, the media, Israeli society, and aid organizations to the family’s suffering,” said the forum.
10 years since Mengistu was kidnapped
“As of yesterday, September 7, it has been 10 years of Avera Mengistu being held in Hamas’ brutal captivity,” said the Hostage Family Forum.
“In spite of the ongoing suffering – his family has not stopped turning to Israel’s government, world leaders, and humanitarian organizations [asking them] to do everything to bring about his release from his cruel captors.”
When the IDF first released the number of hostages taken following October 7, Mengistu, al-Sayed, Goldin, and Shaul were not included in this count, Goldin’s mother Leah said.
“They didn’t count us,” she said, in a play on an Israeli expression that means “we did not matter to them.”
After fighting with officials, Goldin was able to ensure that the hostages taken before October 7 were included in the hostage count.
Tovah Lazaroff and Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.