UN chief meets with families over returning soldiers’ remains from Gaza

The families of presumed killed Israeli soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin have met with Benjamin Netanyahu and UN head Ban Ki-moon in Jerusalem to discuss freeing the remains from Gaza, Army Radio reports.

The meeting comes after Netanyahu publicly urged Ban to use his position to push for the release of the remains of the soldiers, killed in the 2014 war, along with two other Israelis held in Gaza captivity.

At a joint press conference ahead of their meeting together at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, Netanyahu told Ban that returning the bodies is a basic humanitarian need and thanked the UN chief for agreeing to meet with the families of the two deceased soldiers later in the day.

Ban and Netanyahu met separately as well.

There was no immediate official word on what was said in the meetings.