By Michael Miller
Hundreds of participants gathered Wednesday evening in a protest rally in front of the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, demanding the return of IDF soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin, along with other hostages, back to Israel. Among the attendees were the families of Shaul and Goldin.
On August 1, 2014, during Operation Protective Edge, two hours after Hamas agreed to a cease-fire, terrorists ambushed three Israeli soldiers from a tunnel located in the basement of a house in Gaza. The terrorists killed two of the soldiers, and shot Hadar Goldin, a Lieutenant in the Givati Brigade (an elite combat unit of the IDF), dragging him into a tunnel in order to kidnap him during a UN- and US-brokered cease-fire. Hamas continues to hold Hadar and Oron’s bodies. Hamas is also holding Israeli citizens Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed who crossed the border into Gaza several years ago.
The Headquarters of the Struggle for Returning the Boys said that “the victory picture of the operation ‘Guardian of the Walls’ must be the return of the boys from Gaza. This is our commitment to civilians and soldiers.”
“The returning of the boys is the brave action that can reunite the people of Israel. We strengthen your hands and trust you to bring the boys back to Israel. This is the basic commitment of the state to its citizens and its fighters. We all support the IDF soldiers and we remind you all that there is no ceasefire without the return of the boys,” the Headquarters of the Struggle stated.