Relative of Avera Mengistu: Somehow the stars have aligned and he’s coming home

Gil Elias, a relative of returning hostage Avera Mengistu and a long-time activist for his release, tells Channel 12 it is a “dream come true” that the 38-year-old is coming home.

Mengistu is expected to be among the first hostages to be released today. He has been in Hamas captivity for the past decade after crossing the border into Gaza of his own accord, apparently due to a mental illness.

“We’re all excited, waiting for the moment that Hamas hands him over to the Red Cross… and we can finally breathe a sigh of relief and know he’s arrived,” he says.

Elias says Mengistu’s brother Ilan and sister Alemneseh will greet him on return to Israel. Mengistu’s parents, who are observant, will not be at the border crossing due to Shabbat, he says.

The siblings are waiting with “mixed feelings,” says Elias.

“It’s hard to process that they’re going to see him after 10 years,” he says. “It’s really a miracle… somehow the stars have aligned and he’s coming home.”