Father of missing Bedouin: We’re not even sure he’s alive

The father of an Israeli-Bedouin youth said to be held inside the Gaza Strip says the family is “waiting for the picture to become clearer” on regarding the whereabouts and condition of his son.

The youth is a second living Israeli said to be held by Hamas, whose name was not released for publication.

The young man is mentally unstable, the family says. He has not made contact with his family since April and they are not sure whether he is alive or dead. “If he’s indeed in Gaza then this is new information that at least tells us something about his location. Before that we didn’t know anything. Now we are waiting to know for sure, to verify what has been published. From what we hear my son is still alive. He disappears a lot but usually comes back after 24 hours. This is the first time he’s been missing for so long,” the father tells Ynet.

The family says they have been waiting for months to learn any news about their son. “If he’s held by Hamas then we ask them to release him because he is unaware of his actions. It still hard for us to digest this. We are all worried and we won’t calm down until we know whether he is alive or dead,” the father said.