Hamas has returned the body of a British-educated Israeli soldier who was captured and killed 11 years ago.
The remains of Hadar Goldin, who was 23 when he died during August 2014’s Operation Protective Edge, were returned to the Israeli authorities on Sunday.
The terror group said the body of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldier was found on Saturday in a tunnel in Rafah, Gaza, 4,118 days after he was killed.
Israeli authorities identified the body after the Red Cross handed it over on Sunday and informed the soldier’s family.
He was the only deceased hostage whose remains were being held in Gaza before October 7, 2023.
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He was the only deceased hostage whose remains were being held in Gaza before October 7, 2023.
The soldier’s father, Simcha Goldin, said on Sunday: “What this war has proven is that when we fight for our soldiers, we succeed.
“Victory means bringing home the hostages and bringing home our soldiers to Israel.”
The office of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said: “The Israeli government shares in the deep sorrow of the Goldin family and of all the families of the fallen hostages.”
Goldin had lived twice in Cambridge during his childhood when his father, Simha, was a professor on sabbatical at the university.
He was killed two hours into a ceasefire during the six-week war in 2014 in which at least 2,000 people were killed, the majority of them Palestinian civilians.
Hamas released a video of the recovery of the body on Saturday with the soldier’s name pinned to a body bag dug out of the sand.
After the announcement, the soldier’s family released a statement. “An entire nation is waiting for Hadar to be brought home. This is a mission that must and can be fulfilled for the sake of all of us.
“The IDF chief of staff came to update us after Shabbat on the tremendous efforts being made to bring back the hostages, and we salute everyone involved in this national mission.
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“No one in this country is ever left behind. We ask everyone to stay calm. Until it’s final, it isn’t over.”
Visiting the family in Kfar Saba, in southern Israel, Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, the IDF chief of staff, reiterated his commitment to bringing all the dead hostages home.
Four more hostage bodies remain in Gaza.
Earlier this week, Benjamin Netanyahu pleaded for the return of Goldin’s body.
Holding the body for 11 years caused “great agony [to] his family, which will now be able to give him a Jewish burial”, the Israeli prime minister said.
Goldin’s family led a campaign, with the family of another soldier whose body was taken in 2014, to bring their sons home for burial. Israel recovered the remains of the second soldier earlier this year.
Israel’s Channel 12 reported on Sunday that unlike the remaining hostage bodies negotiated for release under the US-brokered ceasefire, the body of Goldin was returned under a separate deal.
The channel suggested that Israel might have to grant around 200 more terrorists currently stuck in a tunnel under Israel-controlled Rafah, safe passage in return.
This has led to criticism from figures like former defense minister Benny Gantz and hardline national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
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