Amid detente with Hamas, Israel says two citizens held in Gaza Strip

JERUSALEM — Israel on Thursday said that two of its citizens are being held captive in the Gaza Strip, an announcement that brought back bitter memories of the case of an Israeli soldier who was captured and imprisoned for five years by the Hamas militant group.

But circumstances have changed dramatically since Gilad Shalit’s release in a 2011 prisoner swap, and the case announced Thursday could provide an important test of a new fragile detente that has emerged between Israel and Hamas since their devastating war last year. A relatively subdued reaction in Israel reflected the new reality, though Hamas is likely to push for a new round of prisoner releases by Israel before it returns the two men.

Israeli defense officials identified one of the men as Avraham Mengistu, an Israeli of Ethiopian descent in his late 20s.

According to COGAT, the defense body that handles civilian issues with the Palestinians, Mengistu disappeared after he “independently” crossed the border fence and entered Gaza on Sept. 7.

It gave no further details on why he had crossed into Gaza, though Israeli media said he had been distraught at the time.

COGAT said the second man was a Bedouin Arab citizen from southern Israel. It refused to identify him or say how long he had been in Gaza or how he got there. Officials also would not say which group had him in custody.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he held Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since seizing control of the territory in 2007, responsible for the fate of both men. Netanyahu said Israel was working to free them and that he had appointed a representative to deal with the matter.

But there were no threats of action against Hamas, in contrast to a bruising military campaign that followed Hamas’ capture of Shalit in a 2006 crossborder raid — or more recently, the arrests of scores of Hamas supporters after the deadly abduction of three Israeli teens in the West Bank last year.

The kidnapping set off a string of events that culminated in a 50-day war that killed more than 2,200 Palestinians in Gaza and 73 people on the Israeli side. It was their third war since the Hamas takeover.

Since then, Israel and Hamas have largely honored a cease-fire and even reached some unspoken understandings to preserve quiet, a reflection of the shared threat to both sides by Gaza’s Salafi militants inspired by the Islamic State extremist group.