Hamas to Return Body of Israeli Officer Hadar Goldin After 11 Years in Gaza

Gaza truce, mediated by US President Donald Trump, came into effect on October 10.

Palestinian Territories:

Hamas' military wing announced they would return the body of Israeli officer Lieutenant Hadar Goldin on Sunday, who was killed during the 2014 Gaza conflict.

Israeli forensic specialists will verify the identity of the remains upon receipt.

"The (Ezzedine) Al-Qassam Brigades will deliver the body of officer Hadar Goldin, discovered yesterday in a Rafah tunnel, at 2:00 pm (1200 GMT), Gaza time," the organization stated on their Telegram channel.

If verified, Goldin would become the 24th hostage whose remains Hamas has returned since the current ceasefire began on October 10.

Goldin's body has remained in Gaza since his death in 2014. Until now, Hamas had never confirmed his death or that they possessed his remains.

Israeli media sources reported on Saturday that Israel had permitted Hamas and Red Cross representatives to search an area under Israeli control in Rafah to locate Goldin's body.

Multiple sources indicated Hamas recovered the remains from a tunnel beneath territory held by Israeli forces.

Shortly following these reports, Israel's military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir visited the Goldin family, promising to repatriate his body and those of other deceased hostages still in Gaza.

"The chief of the general staff emphasized his commitment and the IDF's commitment to bringing back Hadar and all the fallen hostages," the military announced in a statement.

Another Israeli soldier, Oron Shaul, was also killed during the six-week conflict in 2014.

His remains were recovered earlier this year during the current war, which began after Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Previous attempts to secure the return of both soldiers' bodies through prisoner exchanges had repeatedly failed.

Goldin, 23, was part of an Israeli unit assigned to locate and destroy Hamas tunnels when he was killed on August 1, 2014, just hours after a 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire took effect.

The army reported militants ambushed his team, killing him and taking his body.

Israel included Goldin among the hostages whose bodies it aims to repatriate under the ongoing US-brokered ceasefire agreement to end the latest Gaza war.

When the truce began, Hamas was holding 20 living hostages and 28 bodies.

Since then, they have released all living hostages and returned 23 of the bodies in accordance with ceasefire terms.

In exchange, Israel has freed nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and returned the remains of hundreds of Palestinians.

Besides Goldin, four hostage bodies—three Israeli and one Thai—remain to be returned from Gaza, all captured during the October 2023 attack.