Israel has confirmed that the body it received Sunday afternoon is that of Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, an Israeli soldier killed in Gaza more than a decade ago, the Prime Minister’s Office announced Sunday.
Goldin was killed in the final days of the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas, and his body has been kept in Gaza ever since.
“We have brought our son, the combatant Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, to Israel to be buried,” his father, Simcha Goldin, said in a televised statement in front of his home in Kfar Saba on Sunday evening. “We will not abandon our soldiers on the battlefield. These are values and we will not compromise on our values. Victory means bringing back hostages and bringing our soldiers back to Israel.”
“The first is the value of friendship and camaraderie, the second is the right to be buried in Israel, and the third is human dignity. Sadly, we have faced many disappointments. We cannot give up on who we are and we will prevail on our values,” his mother, Leah Goldin, said after the burial ceremony in Israel on Sunday.
The Hostage and Missing Families Forum said in a statement that Goldin’s return “brings some solace to his family, who have lived with painful anxiety and suspicion for more than 11 years.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement: “I know the suffering his family has endured. I know the pain and unity that united the entire Israeli people. And today, we are united in the knowledge that we were finally able to bring him back to his parents and family.”
As with previous hostage returns, Hamas handed over what was believed to be Goldin’s body to the International Red Cross, which transferred it to the Israeli military. The handover was part of a ceasefire agreement that ended the worst fighting in Gaza a month ago.
Goldin’s family has spent years campaigning for his return, citing Israel’s commitment to the principle of leaving no one behind in conflict. An international campaign calling for the return of hostages captured in a Hamas-led terrorist attack on October 7, 2023 has put a new spotlight on Hamas’ fight.
Goldin was killed on August 1, 2014, days before Israel withdrew its troops from Gaza. He was 23 years old and one of 68 Israeli soldiers killed in the month-and-a-half war.
More than 2,200 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The first phase of the US-brokered ceasefire called for Hamas to return all hostages, including the bodies of those killed.
Israeli intelligence has previously assessed that Hamas may not be able to find and return all of the dead hostages remaining in Gaza.
Even after Goldin’s body was returned, four deceased hostages remained in Gaza. The three are Israelis who were killed on October 7, 2023, and whose bodies were taken to Gaza. The fourth person is a Thai national who was kidnapped during the attack. The Thai government announced in May 2024 that he was presumed dead.
