U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday called on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip with knowledge of two missing Israeli civilians to provide information about their possible whereabouts and conditions. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the secretary-general also called for prompt action to facilitate their safe return to their families. Israeli defense officials identified one of the men as Avera Mengistu, a 28-year-old Ethiopian-Israeli who disappeared after he independently entered Gaza on Sept. 7, 2014, two weeks after the end of Israel's war with Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group that controls Gaza. The second man is an unidentified Bedouin Arab citizen from southern Israel. Dujarric said, "The secretary-general underscores the responsibility of all parties to protect and respect the rights of civilians." He said the United Nations would continue to closely monitor developments. Last week's announcement that the two Israelis are missing brought back bitter memories of the case of Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit, who was abducted and imprisoned for five years by Hamas. But circumstances have changed since Schalit's release in a 2011 prisoner swap. Israeli observers say what happens to the two missing civilians could provide an important test of a new fragile detente that has emerged between Israel and Hamas since last summer's war. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that he held Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, responsible for the fate of both men. He said Israel is working to free them. According to a Channel 2 report on Monday, Hamas initially agreed to release Mengistu on humanitarian grounds when Israel first contacted it in secret talks asking for his return. However, when the day for his release came, Hamas presented Israeli soldiers at the border with an Eritrean man who had reached Gaza by way of Egypt, claiming that he was Mengistu. The soldiers immediately sent the man back. Also according to the report, Hamas recently told Israel that Mengistu was transferred to Egypt for medical treatment. The IDF found the tip to be false after checking with Egyptian authorities. Meanwhile, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said Monday that there would be no prisoner swap deal to free the two Israelis in Gaza. Ya'alon spoke at a conference held by Makor Rishon newspaper and the Israel Democracy Institute. "The two Israelis held in Gaza crossed the border fence of their own initiative, one in September and the other in April, and both of them suffer from mental health problems," he said. "We tried through our actions and through the media blackout to bring them back home on humanitarian grounds, but of course it would not be through a deal. A [prisoner swap] deal is not up for discussion and we demand their unconditional return from Hamas."
