Israel asks Pope to help recover four citizens held captive in Gaza

Israel has appealed to Pope Francis, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations Secretary-General to help the country recover four Israeli citizens held in besieged Gaza for more than seven years.

Foreign Minister Eli Cohen's office said he sent letters of appeal on Wednesday after Gaza's ruling Hamas movement released a video of captive Avera Mengistu, a former Israeli soldier.

Mengistu crossed into northern Gaza from the beach at Zikim in September 2014 and was arrested by members of Hamas. His family says he suffers from mental illness. 

Another Israeli citizen and former Israeli soldier, Hisham al Sayed, is being held in Gaza after entering under similar circumstances in 2015, as are two Israeli soldiers who went missing during the 2014 war.

In June 2022, Hamas published the first video of the second Israeli captive, al Sayed. His family says he also suffers from mental illness.

Since their capture, Hamas has not disclosed the fate of the four, but Israel claims the two soldiers were killed during the war and Hamas holds their remains.

READ MORE: In Hamas-governed Gaza, Fatah rallies against 'racist' Netanyahu government

Pressure for prisoner swap

In his letters, Foreign Minister Cohen described Mengistu's plight as "a gross violation of international humanitarian law, with no information on his health condition nor means of communication with family nor Red Cross visits."

The release of the video on Monday appeared to be an effort by Hamas to pressure Israel into a prisoner swap. 

The last prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas was in 2011. 

Former Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, held by Hamas between 2006 and 2011, was released from captivity in exchange for the release of 1,027 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. 

According to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, 500 Palestinians were arrested per month last year.

There are an estimated 4, 760 Palestinians in Israeli prisons - 820 of whom have been detained without charge.

In a statement marking World Children's Day last November, the Palestinian Prisoners Society said Israeli forces rounded up 750 minors in 2022.

Israel’s policy of administrative detention allows the arrest of Palestinians without charge or trial - a discriminatory policy not applied to Israeli Jews.

Israel has said it was exploring indirect talks with Hamas on recovering the current four Israeli captives, without specifying what it might give in return.

READ MORE: Thousands of Palestinian children held by Israel since 2015: NGO