Brother of Hamas captive reflects on life without him

It's eight years since Ilan Mengistu last had any news of his younger brother, Avera, who's in the Gaza Strip, held by Hamas.

"I look towards the place where Avera crossed the border, and I can't believe my eyes, look at the size of this fence that was erected. If it had been there eight years ago, he would not have been able to cross," Ilan noted.  

Avera entered the Palestinian enclave from Zikim beach, south of Ashkelon, not far from where he lived with his parents.

An Israeli military surveillance video from September 7, 2014, shows him crossing. It also shows the soldiers making no attempt to prevent him.  

Ilan was the first to be notified that his brother disappeared.

"I was at work when Shin Bet (internal security) officers came to inform me that my brother had crossed the border to Gaza," he remembers. "The first thing I felt was anger towards him, 'How the hell did you only find Gaza to go to?' but today I know that a person with mental problems can't be aware of the danger he can put himself in so I can't judge him."

Avera, 28 years old when he left, was diagnosed with schizophrenia a few years before.

"All his mental health problems started after the death of our brother, may his memory be blessed. Avera was very close to him," Ilan said. "He was institutionalized twice. I don't understand how they can keep him prisoner. He didn't go there to harm anyone. He just crossed the border by mistake."

Since crossing over, Avera has been held by Hamas. The terrorist group has not released any information about his current state of health.  

"Not a day goes by without us being worried about our brother, our son, " Ilan continued. "We don't know how he feels, if he is sick, if he is receiving the care he needs. We, his family, have been living in the darkness for eight years. There is nothing harsher than not knowing what is going on with the person you care most about. And the more time passes, the more we fear that the public and the government will forget him."

Israel and Hamas have held indirect talks for the release of Avera, a Bedouin civilian Hisham al-Sayed, another Hamas captive, and the bodies of two Israeli soldiers killed in the Gaza Strip in 2014. The talks have, so far, led nowhere. The Mengistu family is critical of what it sees as a lack of support, even indifference.  

"There is no doubt that the state is not doing enough," Ilan charged. "I am not ruling out that racism is important here, but it's not just that. In the last eight years, we have tried everything or almost everything."

Hamas is demanding that Israel free a large number of prisoners - including some jailed for life for murdering Israelis - in return for the release of Avera, al-Sayed, and the bodies of Lieutenant Hadar Goldin and Staff Sergeant Oron Shaul. The talks have become quagmired.

"I wrote: Avera, every man is born free. This is the most basic thing for any human being," said Ilan. "But unfortunately, he has been a prisoner of Hamas for eight years already. We think about him, and we will not give up. We will continue to do everything we can until he comes home."