Israel confirms return of Lt. Hadar Goldin after 11 years
The body of Lt. Hadar Goldin, who was killed and abducted by Hamas in 2014, has been returned to Israel and formally identified, the Prime Minister’s Office and Israel Defence Forces confirmed Sunday evening.
Israelis gather outside the home of Simcha and Leah Goldin in Kfar Saba on Nov. 9, 2025, as the remains of Lt. Hadar Goldin were returned from Gaza 12 years after he was killed in battle. Photo by Eitan Elhadez-Barak/TPS-IL
“After completing the identification process by the National Centrefor Forensic Medicine, in cooperation with the Israel Police and the Military Rabbinate, IDF representatives informed the family of the deceased abductee, Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, that their loved one has been returned to Israel,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
According to Al Jazeera, Goldin’s body was found in an area of Rafah in southern Gaza controlled by the IDF. Rafah lies behind the Yellow Line established by the current ceasefire framework. Some 200 Hamas gunmen are stranded in tunnels on the Israeli side of the Yellow Line. Israeli officials have reportedly indicated a willingness to let the Hamas men leave in exchange for the return of Goldin’s body.
Neither announcement referred to a possible agreement to give the Hamas gunmen safe passage.
Goldin was the last Israeli whose remains had been held in Gaza since before the October 7, 2023, attacks. He became closely associated with Sgt. Oron Shaul, an Israeli soldier who was killed in Shejaiya and whose body was also seized by Hamas in July 2014. Israeli forces recovered Shaul’s body in January 2025, hours before a ceasefire went into effect.
Although the body was held in Gaza, Goldin’s family held a funeral in their hometown of Kfar Saba two days after the ambush.
Goldin, who would have been 34 years old today, became engaged to Edna Sarusi shortly before the ambush. He is also survived by his parents, Simcha and Leah, and his twin brother, Tzur.
Around 1,200 people were killed and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken captive by Hamas during the October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. The bodies of three Israelis and one Thai national are still held in Gaza.
