Ya’alon said seeking return of bodies from Gaza alongside Turkey détente

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has demanded that any future détente between Israel and Turkey include assurances for the return of the bodies of two IDF soldiers held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, according to a Wednesday report.

Israeli and Turkish negotiating teams met Wednesday in Switzerland, as part of ongoing efforts to reach a reconciliation agreement between the two one-time allies, Western diplomats said.

Ya’alon is currently in Switzerland on a working trip to discuss security cooperation. He was not expected to take part in the Turkey negotiations directly.

According to a high-ranking Israeli official quoted by Haaretz, most of the issues on the agenda have been resolved, but two major hurdles remain: Turkey’s demand that Israel end its military blockade on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip — designed by Israel to prevent Hamas importing weaponry — and Israel’s demand that Turkey put an end to harboring Hamas officials in Ankara.

Ya’alon, Haaretz reported, has stated in discussions with the Israeli negotiating team that in exchange for an easing of the Gaza blockade, Israel should demand that Turkey use its influence on Hamas to assist in the return of Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin, both of whom were captured during the 2014 war with Gaza.

Israeli religious and medical official concluded that both were killed, but Hamas has refused to specifically acknowledge anything about them, while stating it holds bargaining chips.

Israeli soldiers, dead or alive, have in the past proved valuable bargaining chips to Hamas, Hezbollah and other terror groups.

Shaul was with six other soldiers in an armored personal carrier in the Gaza City neighborhood of Shejaiya when they came under attack in July 20, 2014. All seven soldiers were declared dead, including Shaul, whose body was captured by Hamas fighters.

On August 1, Hadar Goldin was captured during a surprise attack by Hamas fighters, breaking a truce called earlier that day. His body was taken through a tunnel and he was later declared dead.

Israel is being represented at the Geneva talks with Turkey by Joseph Ciechanover, a former head of the Foreign Ministry appointed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Ciechanover also represented Israel at the UN probe into the IDF raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla in 2010, which led to the deaths of 10 Turkish nationals and exacerbated a diplomatic freeze between the two countries.

His Turkish counterpart at Wednesday’s talks was Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlioğlu.

The current talks continue attempts to re-normalize Jerusalem-Ankara relations after Netanyahu, prompted by US President Barack Obama at the end of his visit to the region in 2013, apologized for the flotilla deaths in a call to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“We strive for peace with all our neighbors, but it has to be mutual,” Netanyahu said Tuesday during a tour of the Arava in southern Israel.

Erdogan, who last month signaled his readiness to mend ties with Israel, on Tuesday hosted a delegation of US Jewish leaders at his official Ankara residence, including a Netanyahu confidant who had met with the prime minister in Jerusalem ahead of the Ankara trip.