Repatriating soldiers' bodies from Gaza is a 'difficult mission'

Israel’s defence minister renewed his belief on Monday that repatriating the bodies of two soldiers killed during last year’s war against the people of Gaza is a ‘difficult mission’.

According to Quds Press, Moshe Ya’alon made his remark during a ceremony commemorating Israeli soldiers lost in the Gaza Strip during the 51-day Israeli offensive. Attended by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin, the event was held in Jerusalem’s military cemetery.

“The Israeli defence leadership is committed to return the corpses of the two soldiers,” insisted Ya’alon. “This is an ethical duty; they went into battle upon our demand.”

Nevertheless, he acknowledged that getting their bodies will be “difficult” and “full of hardships.” Israel, he added, has “an aggressive enemy, who does not have a human sense.”

Netanyahu assured those present that the government will exert its “utmost effort” to regain the corpses of Saul Oron and Hadar Golden to be buried in Israel. “This is gratitude for them and for their families.”

Netanyahu, whose offensive killed around 2,260 Gazans, including more than 500 children, and who now rejects the two-state solution, turned to an old propaganda canard to emphasise his point. “We love peace and we are eager to defend ourselves, our sons and future,” he claimed. “We love life, but our enemies love death.”

It was said that at least two Israeli soldiers were lost during last summer’s Israeli attack on Gaza. The Palestinian resistance has been refusing to provide information about the men, although it has claimed to have captured one of them.