Hamas returned the remains of Lt. Hadar Goldin, a 23-year-old IDF soldier killed on Aug. 1, 2014, after his body had been held in Gaza for 4,118 days. Israeli officials said the remains were formally identified by the Health Ministry's National Center of Forensic Medicine and that Goldin's family was informed prior to the announcement. Hamas said the body was found in a Rafah tunnel and was transferred via the Red Cross as part of a U.S.-brokered agreement to return remains and hostages. Goldin's parents led an 11-year campaign to bring him home for burial.
After 4,118 Days, Hamas Returns Remains of Lt. Hadar Goldin
Hamas returned the remains of Lt. Hadar Goldin, a 23-year-old IDF soldier killed on Aug. 1, 2014, after his body had been held in Gaza for 4,118 days. Israeli officials said the remains were formally identified by the Health Ministry's National Center of Forensic Medicine and that Goldin's family was informed prior to the announcement. Hamas said the body was found in a Rafah tunnel and was transferred via the Red Cross as part of a U.S.-brokered agreement to return remains and hostages. Goldin's parents led an 11-year campaign to bring him home for burial.
22:13, 09.11.2025Conflict
Hamas hands over remains of Lt. Hadar Goldin
Hamas has delivered the remains of Lt. Hadar Goldin, an Israeli soldier killed on Aug. 1, 2014, whose body had been held in Gaza for 4,118 days, Israel said Sunday.
Goldin was serving in the Israel Defense Forces' Givati Brigade when he was killed two hours after a 72-hour ceasefire took effect that year. He was 23 years old. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a government meeting, "We are due to receive the body of Lt. Hadar Goldin this afternoon," emphasizing Israel's long-standing commitment to returning soldiers who fall in battle.
Netanyahu's office later said the remains had been formally identified by the Health Ministry's National Center of Forensic Medicine after being returned to Israel, and that Goldin's family was notified before the public announcement.
Hamas said it located Goldin's body in a tunnel in Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city, and arranged for the return via the International Committee of the Red Cross. Israeli officials confirmed receipt of a coffin delivered from inside the Gaza Strip.
Under a U.S.-brokered agreement tied to the current ceasefire, Hamas is expected to return the remains of those it holds — many taken during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. Since the ceasefire began, Hamas has handed back the remains of 23 hostages. Israeli officials say Israel has released the remains of 15 Palestinians for each Israeli returned.
"Those who abandon the dead will abandon the wounded and the living," Goldin's parents said repeatedly during their 11-year campaign to bring their son home for burial.
Israeli forces initially believed Goldin had been captured alive. Subsequent investigations concluded he had been killed after soldiers discovered evidence — including a blood-soaked shirt and prayer fringes — in a tunnel where he had been taken.
The wider conflict escalated with the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, in which roughly 251 people were taken hostage and about 1,200 people were killed in Israel, the majority civilians. Earlier this year, the Israeli military recovered the body of another soldier who had been killed in the 2014 fighting.
Note: The family has been notified and identification procedures were completed by Israeli forensic authorities.