'It's Heartbreaking': Hamas Killed Their Son, and Kept His Body

WASHINGTON – An Israeli family is hoping the United States working with the United Nations will be able to bring about a minor miracle. Their son, Hadar Goldin, was killed by Hamas terrorists five years ago, and his body was never returned.

"It's heartbreaking," said Hadar's mother, Leah Goldin.

The pain in her eyes is evident as she talks about her son. She says he was always smiling.

"Smiling from the inside," Goldin said. "His most characteristic thing was to see the good things in everything. In Hebrew, we say you have a 'bad eye' or 'good eye.' He had the good eye."

Hadar joined the Israeli army, and in August of 2014, he was in Gaza as part of Operation Protective Edge. Hamas had launched missiles into Israel. His mother says two hours into a cease-fire, he was ambushed by Hamas.

"Hamas took advantage of knowing the Israeli soldiers' protocol not to shoot during a cease-fire," Goldin said. 

"They ambushed his team, killed three of them and kidnapped Hadar into an underground tunnel where they still keep his body as a bargaining chip [for the] release [of] sentenced terrorists."

The family has been trying unsuccessfully ever since to retrieve their son's remains and give him a proper burial, a cornerstone of their Jewish faith. The response from officials had always been the same.

"These are terrorists, Hamas terrorists what can we do?" Goldin said of responses from officials.  

"War is war with all the consequences, but capturing the dead, refusing to let me bury him, is the lowest thing to do," Goldin said.

The family has new hope, thanks to a newly passed UN Security Council resolution. It says in part that when a cease-fire is initiated and a peace agreement reached the return of hostages and the deceased must be a top priority.

"So for us, this is now the window of opportunity to bring our son home since the United States was highly involved in initiating the peace plan in our region," Goldin said. "This resolution actually moves the responsibility to the UN state members by saying when you initiate agreements it's your responsibility now to factor in the return of Hadar."

The Goldins came to the US to try and build support for their case by meeting with White House officials and the UN Secretary-General, who the mother said was optimistic. 

The Secretary-General released a statement to CBN News saying:

"The Secretary-General had a private meeting with the parents of Hadar Goldin…[he] continues to call on all parties to abide by international humanitarian law and duly inform the families of missing Israelis and Palestinians regarding the status of their loved ones."

This mother feels a step closer to closure for her son who was 23 and a month away from his wedding when he was killed.

"For us, it's to put closure, it's to put closure to the family and specifically to his twin brother and his fiancée," Goldin said.

"And we believe that your current administration can fix this wrong. Not just pray for it, not just think about us, but make it happen."