Slain soldier’s father: Hamas must ‘pay the price’ for keeping remains

Hamas must “pay the price” for not returning the bodies of two IDF soldiers killed during 2014’s summer war in the Gaza Strip, the father of one of the fallen said Friday.

Lt. Hadar Goldin and Sergeant Oron Shaul were killed during Operation Protective Edge and their bodies have been held by the Gaza-based Palestinian terrorist group since.

“Steps must be taken [against Hamas] that will make [the group] return the bodies,” Goldin told the Hebrew-language Walla news site, referring to the remains of his son and of Shaul.

Simcha Goldin was speaking during an event in Binyamina in central Israel marking what would have been his son’s 25th birthday. More than 1,000 people attended, including Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, who is a relative of the family.

Goldin, an officer in the Givati Brigade, was killed on August 1, 2014 near Rafah during an operation to find and destroy Hamas tunnels.

Shaul was killed July 20, 2014, along with six other soldiers, when his armored personnel carrier was hit in the eastern Gaza neighborhood of Shejaiya.

Shaul’s remains were the only ones from that incident not recovered. His family maintains hope he is still alive and held hostage by Hamas, but medical experts have said there was little chance the soldier survived.

The IDF has designated both men as soldiers killed in action whose place of burial is unknown.

“Hadar and Oron must be brought for burial inside Israel. We are being kept up to date by security officials, but I am not at liberty to discuss these things,” Simcha Goldin said.

He did not specify what measures should be taken against the Gaza-based terror group to pressure it to transfer the bodies to Israel.

Goldin’s fiancée, Edna Seroussi, said she and the family were “doing a lot, especially behind the scenes. We embrace all those who act to bring back Hadar’s body. This is an emotional day and you can see the love and respect everyone has for Hadar. They came here from all over the country to empathize and I am grateful to everyone.”

Last month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he asked German Chancellor Angela Merkel to help mediate the return of the bodies of the two IDF soldiers to Israel. German mediators in the past helped mediate the return of Israeli hostages.

“Because Germany helped us in the past on these issues, I asked for their help in this case too,” Netanyahu said last month after meeting Merkel.