2nd Israeli held in Gaza is Bedouin

Today Israel claimed two Israeli citizens are being held in the Gaza Strip, at least one of them by the Hamas militant group. Thousands are homeless. Two-thirds of Gaza’s 1.8m people are recipients of United Nations aid in one form or another. Officials refused to say how long he has been held in Gaza or how he got there.

The reports saids that Mengistu is known to have suffered from psychological problems in the past and may have been drinking on the day of his disappearance.

Israel on Thursday lifted a gag order allowing media to report on the missing men.

The 50-day war last summer between Israel and Hamas, a militant Islamic group sworn to Israel’s destruction, killed 2,200 Palestinians while Israel lost 73 people.

“The blockade remains in place and its crippling effect on Gaza is undeniable, inexcusable”, Robert Turner, operations director in Gaza for United Nations relief agency UNRWA, told reporters. Seventy-three Israelis, all soldiers, were killed. When soldiers, alerted to the figure, arrived, he had already climbed the fence leaving behind the bag, which contained a copy of the Hebrew Bible inside.

[Israel keeps Gaza sealed from sea].

Hamas has been holding two Israeli citizens in Gaza captive for the last 10 months. In recent months, Ethiopians have staged large demonstrations to protest what they call racist treatment by Israeli police and society.

Reporting the cases had been barred until Thursday.

“Furthermore, the defence establishment is now dealing with an additional case of an Israeli Arab also being held in Gaza”, it said, without providing further details on the second person.

Israeli media had lobbied hard for permission to publish details on the case, putting pressure on the government to release information.

“We are working for the return of two Israelis who crossed the border into Gaza”, said the Israeli Prime Minister.

“They determined that he was not mentally stable and decided to return him to Israel”, Baskin said. “We agreed to meet soon”.

“I expect the global community, which expresses its concern over the humanitarian situation in Gaza, to issue a clear call to release the citizens and ensure their return”, Netanyahu said in a statement. The defense ministry added that it had no current information about his fate, but it did know he crossed into Gaza on foot.

Israeli media said Israel had turned to worldwide channels to appeal for Mangisto’s release on humanitarian grounds because he was a civilian, not a soldier.

Yalo Mengistu told the newspaper that his family’s initial attempts to meet with Netanyahu were rebuffed.

Peri said Mengistu had gone missing several times before. The IDF spotted him and attempted to stop him, but he ran across before he could be apprehended; Hamas arrested him upon his arrival.

“PCHR stresses that the Palestinian Authority is responsible for the lives of prisoners and detainees under its control and is thus responsible for treating them with dignity, including offering them medical care”, the group said in a statement.