About two years ago, two Israeli civilians — Avraham Mengistu, a member of the Ethiopian community, and Hisham al-Sayed, a resident of the Bedouin town of Hura — illegally (and separately) crossed the border into Gaza. On July 12, another Bedouin youth, Jumaa Ibrahim Abu-Ghanima, did the same, making a total of three Israelis being held by Hamas' military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. The group also has the bodies of two Israeli soldiers, Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin, who were killed in Operation Protective Edge in summer 2014.

Hamas’ military wing generally portrays Mengistu and Sayed as soldiers — with all the accompanying implications — despite their family members' assertions that their sons entered Gaza as a result of being mentally ill. At rallies organized by the Qassam Brigades last July on the first anniversary of Operation Protective Edge, photographs of Mengistu and Sayed were displayed together with those of Shaul and Goldin. In the meantime, Hamas continues to hide two facts from Gazans: that Mengistu and Sayed are mentally ill and that they crossed the border of their own volition.

Family members of Shaul and Golding are conducting a public campaign separate from that of the Mengistu family, but they are united in their efforts to bring their sons home. Members of the three families tried to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to bind the reconciliation agreement with Turkey to the return of the civilians and the soldiers' bodies. In the end, the agreement signed included a nonbinding statement by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that his country would use its intelligence services and influence to try to speed the releases. In response to criticism by the family members, Netanyahu said that Turkey has no control over Hamas and does not hold the soldiers' bodies.

On a visit to Africa, Netanyahu met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn Boshe on July 7. At the conclusion of the meeting, Netanyahu told reporters that he had asked Ethiopia to help Israel bring Mengistu home. It is clear that Hailemariam has no more influence over Hamas than Erdogan does, thus it is doubtful whether he can actually help.