Netanyahu Says No Gaza Deal Without Return of Soldiers' Remains

(Bloomberg) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there will be no cease-fire deal with Gaza Strip leaders without the return of the remains of two soldiers missing since 2014, following a meeting with the men’s families.

Netanyahu “met with the Goldin and Shaul families and told them that there would be no arrangement in the Gaza Strip without the return of the boys,” his office said in an emailed statement Sunday.

Talks brokered by Egypt and the United Nations are underway to end five months of protests at the Gaza border and pave the way to a multi-year cease-fire, including the lifting of a decade-long Israeli blockade of the territory and the financing of major infrastructure projects. If no deal for the return of the bodies can be arranged, Israel may agree only to much smaller gestures to ease Gaza’s humanitarian situation in exchange for quiet at the border.

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