The family of slain IDF soldier Hadar Goldin, whose body is being held by the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza, is organizing a march to the Gaza Strip next week, to mark eight years since Goldin and fellow soldier Oron Shaul were kidnapped by Hamas.
The aim of the march, which will set out from Kfar Saba, is to protest what the families say is the abandonment of their sons. On posters advertising the march, three young men are portrayed: Goldin, Shaul, and Avera Mengistu, a mentally disturbed young man who crossed the border into the enclave and was kidnapped by Hamas. He is believed to still be alive.
The families and marchers plan to open the march at the Goldin family home in Kfar Saba and head to the border fence, in the hope that the renewed attention to their plight will put pressure on the government to demonstrate some progress.
The march's organizers are appealing to all soldiers' organizations, bereaved families, wounded veterans, and Israeli citizens in general -- regardless of race or religion -- to participate in the march and demonstrate their support for the families of the missing soldiers and citizens.
"Eight years have passed during which successive Israeli governments have abandoned Oron and Hadar," the organizers said in a statement on Sunday. "The current government, just like the previous one, is showing its moral bankruptcy in the way it is behaving toward our sons during a period when every day brings news of more releases of terrorists from prison, more Gaza Arabs allowed into the country to work, and more raw materials headed into Gaza in order to build terror tunnels. The government is not using any means of pressure against Hamas or its leader, Yahya Sinwar," they added.
The march is being divided into segments to enable those unable to participate in the entire march to join at fixed points such as bridges and crossroads and accompany the families for part of the way.