JERUSALEM — Israel on Thursday said that two of its citizens are being held captive in the Gaza Strip, an announcement that brought back bitter memories of the case of an Israeli soldier who was captured and imprisoned for five
JERUSALEM — Israel on Thursday said that two of its citizens are being held captive in the Gaza Strip, an announcement that brought back bitter memories of the case of an Israeli soldier who was captured and imprisoned for five years by the Hamas militant group.
But circumstances have changed dramatically since Gilad Schalit’s release in a 2011 prisoner swap, and the case announced Thursday could provide an important test of a new fragile detente that has emerged between Israel and Hamas since their devastating war last year. A relatively subdued reaction in Israel reflected the new reality, though Hamas is likely to push for a new round of prisoner releases by Israel before it returns the two men.
Israeli defense officials identified one of the men as Avraham Mengistu, an Israeli of Ethiopian descent in his late 20s.
According to COGAT, the defense body that handles civilian issues with the Palestinians, Mengistu disappeared after he “independently” crossed the border fence and entered Gaza on Sept. 7, two weeks after the end of last year’s war.
It gave no further details on why he had crossed into Gaza, though Israeli media said he had been distraught at the time of his disappearance.
COGAT said the second man was a Bedouin Arab citizen from southern Israel. It refused to identify him or say how long he had been in Gaza or how he got there. Officials also would not say which group had him in custody.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he held Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since seizing control of the territory in 2007, responsible for the fate of both men. Netanyahu said Israel was working to free them and that he had appointed a representative to deal with the matter.
“Yesterday I spoke with the parents and siblings of Avraham Mengistu and I told them that from the moment the incident became known, we have spared no effort to return him to Israel,” Netanyahu said, urging the international community to “issue a clear call” for their release.
But there were no threats of action against Hamas, in contrast to a bruising military campaign that followed Hamas’ capture of Schalit in a 2006 cross-border raid — or more recently, the arrests of scores of Hamas supporters after the deadly abduction of three Israeli teens in the West Bank last year.
The kidnapping set off a string of events that culminated in a 50-day war that killed more than 2,200 Palestinians in Gaza and 73 people on the Israeli side. It was their third war since the Hamas takeover.
Since then, Israel and Hamas have largely honored a cease-fire and even reached some unspoken understandings to preserve quiet, a reflection of the shared threat to both sides by Gaza’s Salafi militants inspired by the Islamic State extremist group.
Notably absent on Thursday were also the type of celebrations in Gaza that had accompanied previous kidnappings of Israelis. A Hamas spokesman, Salah Bardawil, said he had no information about the two missing Israelis.
“Even if it is true, we don’t have instructions to talk about it,” he said.
The different circumstances also contributed to the subdued reactions. Where Schalit and the teens were captured in military-style operations, the latest disappearances appeared accidental.
While Mengistu’s disappearance had been well known inside Israel’s Ethiopian community, Israel had barred publication of the incident for several months.
Israeli media had lobbied hard for permission to publish details on the case, putting pressure on the government to release information.
Khaled Mashaal, the head of Hamas’ political bureau, also may have forced Israel’s hand by telling a London newspaper this week that Israel had asked Hamas through a European mediator to release “two soldiers and two bodies.” Israeli officials have said that the remains of two soldiers killed in combat last summer are held by Hamas.
Israeli lawmaker Yaakov Peri, a former director of the Shin Bet intelligence agency and an ex- government coordinator for prisoner of war issues, said that going public may have hurt the negotiations but that talks could nonetheless succeed in the current climate.
“Calculations are a little bit less emotional. And it’s good. It’s good for the negotiations, and I am sure it will affect the outcome,” he said.
