Israeli official asks UK to help release captured soldiers

Israeli opposition leader, Yitzhak Herzog, has called on Britain to help secure the return of the bodies of Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul and the release of Avra Mengistu who are believed to be held in the Gaza Strip.

Herzog, who heads the Zionist Camp, made the request during a meeting with British Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, who is visiting Israel and the Palestinian territories, local radio reported.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson (L)  meets Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (R) in Ramallah, West Bank on 8 March 2017 [Issam Rimawi/Anadolu]

Al-Qassam Brigades is thought to have captured four Israeli soldiers who are being held as prisoners of war.

Officials in Hamas said the group has refused to engage in indirect negotiations with Israel on the detained soldiers before Israel releases all Palestinian prisoners it freed then recaptured as part of a prisoner exchange deal signed in 2011.