Simcha and Leah Goldin
Simcha and Leah GoldinHadas Parush/Flash 90

Nickolay Mladenov, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, met on Wednesday with Leah and Simcha Goldin, the parents of IDF soldier Hadar Goldin, whose body has been held by Hamas since the 2014 Operation Protective Edge.

“Today I met with the family of Hadar Goldin. His remains are held captive in Gaza and have not been returned to his family. This is a humanitarian case that must be resolved in line with UN resolution 2474. No one should live with such pain,” he tweeted.

Leah Goldin attended a special annual UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva, Switzerland in September.

Speaking at the conference, Goldin called on the Council member countries to act on UN Resolution 2474, which was adopted in June, to change their policy towards Gaza and to work to secure the return of the Israeli soldiers and civilians held by the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza.

Resolution 2474 requires all states to take responsibility for the return of missing prisoners, and instructing UN Special Envoys to implement the resolution.

Leah and Simcha Goldin also met with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York in September.

In addition to Hadar Goldin, Hamas is also holding the body of another IDF soldier, Oron Shaul.

The group is also believed to be holding Avera Mengistu, an Israeli citizen who crossed the border into Gaza in late 2014 and has not been heard from since. Hamas has acknowledged that Mengistu was in Gaza but stopped short of confirming it is holding him.

A fourth Israeli, Hisham al-Sayed, is believed to be held by Hamas as well.

The Red Cross has in the past urged Hamas to comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law and provide an update on the condition of Israeli nationals who went missing in Gaza.

Hamas has refused to comply with the request, and has also refused to allow the Red Cross to visit the missing Israelis.