JERUSALEM, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and UN Middle East Envoy Nickolay Mladenov met on Thursday at the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem.
Netanyahu thanked Mladenov for "the positive role he filled vis-a-vis various elements in the region," said a statement issued by the prime minister's office.
He underlined the continued UN assistance in negotiations for the return of the Israeli fallen soldiers and civilians, whose bodies, according to Israel, are being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, Mladenov said on Twitter that the United Nations has been a partner for peace for both Israelis and Palestinians.
"I hope all issues, including the humanitarian question of the missing persons and the opening (of) Gaza, will be resolved," he wrote.
Mladenov was a key mediator between Israel and Hamas, an Islamist Palestinian movement that runs the Gaza Strip which has been under a crippling blockade imposed by Israel since 2007.
