Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Coordinator for Captives and MIAs Yaron Bloom met with the Mengistu and al-Sayed families at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem on Thursday.
Avraham "Abera" Mengistu is an Ethiopian-Israeli mentally ill man who crossed into Gaza on September 7, 2014, and has been in Hamas captivity ever since.
Hisham al-Sayed, a Bedouin Israeli from the village of Hura in the Negev desert, is also mentally ill and has been diagnosed with schizophrenia. He wandered into Gaza in April 2015 and was also taken captive by Hamas.
Netanyahu told the families that he is committed to bringing back the soldiers and civilians being held by Hamas. He updated the families on the latest developments and the open and covert efforts being carried out by the Israeli government to return their sons.
National Security Council Chairman Meir Ben-Shabbat, the Prime Minister’s Military Secretary Brig.-Gen. Avi Bluth and a Foreign Ministry representative also attended the meeting.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Netanyahu met with the Goldin and Shaul families.