UN Must Help Bring Home Israeli Soldiers Whose Bodies Are Held by Hamas

Algemeiner Staff

Israeli Ambassador to UN Danny Danon with Leah and Simha Goldin at a meeting in New York, Aug. 21, 2019. Photo: Israeli UN Mission.

The parents of the late Lt. Hadar Goldin — an IDF soldier who fell in battle in the Gaza Strip during Operation Protective Edge and whose body was kidnapped by Hamas and is still being held by the terrorist group — met in New York on Wednesday with Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon.

According to a statement published by Danon’s office, the diplomat told Leah and Simha Goldin that Israel was “continuing to focus its efforts at the UN and with senior members of the international community on returning Israeli prisoners and missing persons to their homes.”

Hadar Goldin is one of two IDF soldiers — the other being Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul — who died in the summer 2014 Gaza war and whose remains have yet to be handed over to Israel.

“Holding our boys hostage is a blatant violation of international law, which requires that UN officials work to bring them home,” Danon said after Wednesday’s meeting with the Goldins. “Hadar and Oron were captured during a UN-initiated cease fire, and the organization must now fulfill its humanitarian duty and assist in efforts return our soldiers for a proper burial in Israel.”

In the coming days, the Goldins will also meet with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and a number of diplomats from around the world.