PA official: We have intel on Mengistu talks

A senior official with the Palestinian Authority says the PA’s intelligence apparatus has information on the negotiations Israel has been conducting with Hamas to return Avraham Mengistu, a man in his twenties who Israel claims is being held by Hamas in Gaza.

According to Hebrew-language website NRG, the information regarding Mengistu was gleaned as part of intense PA efforts to learn about contact between Israel and Hamas, in which Egypt is also reportedly involved.

Two months ago, NRG reports, PA President Mahmoud Abbas was present at a gala dinner in his honor, and surprised attendees by saying he had in the back of his car, parked outside, a thick and well researched file detailing all secret contact between Hamas and Israel.

Abbas then said initial contact between the sides started not long after the end of Operation Protective Edge. The first contact began following a request through an Ethiopian-Jewish official seeking details on the fate of an Israeli citizen of Ethiopian descent inside Gaza. After that, secret talks moved to wider-ranging diplomatic implications and the fact that a Israeli civilian is being held by Hamas was suppressed by Israel’s military censor.