Avera Mengistu’s relative tells Tel Aviv rally: ‘Incomprehensible’ to think about all he’s endured over the last decade

A family member of Avera Mengistu, who has been held captive by Hamas in Gaza since 2014, addresses the crowd at the weekly hostage deal rally at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, Ynet reports.

Mengistu entered the Gaza Strip of his own accord in 2014 while suffering from severe mental health issues and was captured by Hamas.

“We know that he is alive and in a bad mental and physical condition,” his relative Gil says in Tel Aviv. “He’s been there not for a month or a year but for 10 years.”

“It’s incomprehensible to hear the testimonies of people who were released, and to think about what he’s been going through all these years,” he continues.

He says that there have been points at which Mengistu could have been released but that the various governments Israel has had over the last decade always let the opportunities slip away.

“We need courageous people who will exert pressure to do the right, proper and moral thing,” he says.