After 11 Years: Tens of Thousands Attend Funeral for Lt. Hadar Goldin as Gaza Returns His Remains

Massive turnout as family finds long-awaited closure

Tens of thousands of mourners filled a cemetery in central Israel on Tuesday for the funeral of Lt. Hadar Goldin, whose body had been held in Gaza for 11 years. Crowds overflowed the graveyard and blocked nearby streets as people stood with Israeli flags to mark the burial.

Return of remains and a family's decade-long campaign

The remains of Goldin were returned on Sunday as part of a recent U.S.-brokered ceasefire arrangement. For the Goldin family — who traveled the world, lobbied leaders and testified at the U.N. — the burial provided a long-sought moment of closure after 4,117 days of uncertainty.

Goldin was 23 when he was killed two hours after a ceasefire took effect at the end of the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas. Israel's military long concluded he had died, citing evidence found in the tunnel where his body was taken, including a blood-soaked shirt and prayer fringes. The body of Oron Shaul, another soldier taken in the same conflict, was recovered in January.

“Hadar, we waited for you 11 years, that’s a long time. A very long time. I honestly can’t explain how we did it,” said Leah Goldin, Hadar’s mother, at his graveside. “I still believed you would jump up and say ‘Everything is fine!’”

Funeral remarks and political context

Speakers at the funeral — including Goldin’s parents, siblings and his former fiancée — repeatedly thanked the military and reserve soldiers who searched for him over the years. They did not mention Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was in office when Goldin was taken and for much of the intervening period. Netanyahu did not attend; Israel’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, delivered a military eulogy, and former chief of staff Benny Gantz attended along with other ex-commanders.

Operations, controversy and casualties in Rafah

Following Goldin’s abduction in 2014, Israel invoked the so-called "Hannibal" directive — a protocol that allowed the use of heavy force to prevent the capture of a soldier. Israeli forces attacked a neighborhood on the outskirts of Rafah with artillery, tank fire and airstrikes. Palestinian witnesses described intense shelling and mass displacement; human rights groups documented 121 deaths in the operation and raised concerns about possible disproportionate or indiscriminate force.

The military canceled the Hannibal directive in 2016 amid criticism and introduced a revised version in 2017. In the 50 days of fighting in 2014, more than 2,200 Palestinians were killed, including hundreds of civilians, and Gaza’s infrastructure suffered extensive damage; Israel lost 73 people in that conflict. The Israeli military announced on Tuesday that it had dismantled the tunnel shaft in Rafah where Goldin’s body had been taken.

Wider conflict and humanitarian toll

The current war began with a Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which roughly 1,200 people — mostly civilians — were killed and 251 were abducted. Four hostage bodies from that attack remain in Gaza. Gaza’s Health Ministry reported the Palestinian death toll in Gaza has risen to 69,182; its tally does not distinguish between combatants and civilians and says more than half of the dead were women and children.

Displaced Palestinians continue to face severe shortages. In central Gaza, many rely on charity kitchens for their only daily meal. At a charity kitchen in Nuseirat refugee camp, scores — many of them children — queued with empty pots for rice, the only food available that day. "The rockets and planes stopped but increasing living costs has been the hardest weapon used against us," said Mohamed al-Naqlah, a displaced resident of Nuseirat.

Family testimony and legacy

Goldin’s family described their campaign as part of a broader social compact between the state and citizens called to serve. His twin brother, Tzur, said Hamas’s practice of holding bodies was meant to "destroy families and destroy Israel from the inside," while sister Ayelet called the burial a "historic" moment that allowed the family to say the kaddish over his body rather than an empty grave.

The funeral and the return of Goldin’s remains close a painful chapter that resonated across Israel and the world — while underscoring unresolved political and humanitarian consequences of the broader conflict.

Reporting contributed by staff in Tel Aviv and Cairo.