An unmanned IDF ground vehicle near the southern part of the Gaza-Israel border fence (Zev Marmorstein/IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
A young man from Rehovot was charged Thursday with trying to cross the border into Gaza.
The 23-year-old was caught some 30 meters from the border fence and was found to have two kitchen knives in his bag.
He claimed that he didn’t actually want to enter Gaza but was hoping to end his life by being shot by IDF soldiers. His family said that he has attempted suicide in the past.
According to the indictment served in the Ashkelon Magistrate’s Court he is charged with endangering national security. The court heard that if he had succeeded in crossing into the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, there was a good chance he would have been held for ransom by the terrorist organization, placing a huge burden on the state to free him.
He was remanded for 10 days to undergo psychological tests.
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L-R: Oron Shaul, Hadar Goldin and Avraham Mengistu. (Flash90/The Times of Israel)
Hamas recently demanded that Israel release 60 members of the terror group as a precondition to negotiations for the release of three Israeli men who crossed into the coastal territory of their own accord: Two of the men have been named as Avraham Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed. The presence of the third, Juma Ibrahim Abu Ghanima, in Gaza is unconfirmed.
Hamas also holds the bodies of IDF soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin, who the army determined were killed in action in the 2014 Gaza war.
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