The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Monday (January 16th) released a video of an Israeli man it has held since 2014 in the Gaza Strip under its control, blaming the Israeli army for holding him captive, on the occasion of the inauguration. of a new chief of staff.
“
I am the prisoner Avera Mengistu.
How much longer am I going to stay here in prison?
After long and painful years, where are the state and the Israelis?
asks the detainee in Hebrew in this clip, undated and published by the armed wing of Hamas.
Failure of the outgoing Chief of Staff
"
The Ezzedine al-Qassam brigades affirm the failure of the outgoing Chief of Staff (Aviv) Kochavi and his institution
", can we read in the preamble of the video of about thirty seconds broadcast on the Telegram application .
"
The new Chief of Staff (Herzi) Halevi should prepare to bear the burden of his failure
", it is also written, in reference to the captivity of Avera Mengistu.
Herzi Halevi, hitherto number two in the Israeli army, replaced Aviv Kochavi as head of the institution on Monday.
Asked by AFP, the army and the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not comment on this video immediately.
A Jew of Ethiopian origin and presented as mentally unstable by the Israeli authorities, Avera Mengistu was filmed by an Israeli security camera as he climbed the fence separating Israel from Gaza in September 2014. Hamas, which also holds the remains of two Israeli soldiers killed in the 2014 war in Gaza, released the video of the other Israeli he is holding in June.
In the hands of Hamas for more than seven years, Hisham Al-Sayed, a Muslim Bedouin, appeared lying on a bed and on life support.
Read alsoThe ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has officially entered into force
The armed movement had threatened in mid-December to close “
forever
” the file of the four Israelis it holds if no prisoner exchange took place quickly with the Jewish state.
In 2011, Israel released more than a thousand Palestinians in exchange for Gilad Shalit, a Franco-Israeli soldier held for more than five years by Hamas.
Israel does not allow its nationals to enter the Gaza Strip for fear that they will be kidnapped and used as bargaining chips for the release of Palestinian prisoners.
Israel and Hamas have fought four wars since the Islamist movement took control of Gaza in 2007. Since then, the Jewish state has imposed a blockade on the enclave of 2.3 million inhabitants.
