Former prisoners and missing persons coordinator Col. Lior Lotan, responded to a Hamas recording of an "Israeli prisoner" by saying that "the working assumption in Israel is that Avera Mengistu is alive."
In an interview with Kan Reshet Bet, Lotan was asked if the voice in the Hamas recording belongs to Mengistu.
"I am not authorized to determine this," he replied. "I have my opinion but it is very important in these things to rely only on the system."
Meanwhile, Shaaban al-Sayed, father of Hisham al-Sayed, the other Israeli civilian held captive by Hamas, has said that the voice in the recording is not that of his son.
"We will not busy ourselves with speculations. This is not our son," he said.
"They said on their program that they are protecting the captives and that already makes us feel better. The recordings are just psychological stressors."
On Sunday night, Al Jazeerapublished previously-unseen footage of former IDF soldier Gilad Shalit in captivity. At the same time, the channel also published new footage of what it claims is a missing Israeli, who can be heard saying, "I am in captivity, I hope the State of Israel still exists."