After 4,118 days in Gaza, body of IDF soldier Hadar Goldin confirmed to be back in Israel

Military representatives have notified the family of Lt. Hadar Goldin that his body was returned to Israel by Hamas today, more than 11 years after he was killed and abducted by the terror group, after forensic experts completed their identification.

This brings to an end to his family’s long struggle to recover Goldin’s remains and bring him home for burial.

At 9:05 a.m. on August 1, 2014, just over an hour after the start of a 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire during the 2014 Gaza War, Hamas gunmen emerged from a tunnel in the southeastern part of Rafah and attacked troops of the Givati Brigade’s reconnaissance unit, killing three soldiers, including Goldin — whose body was dragged into the tunnel by the terror operatives.

His body was held by Hamas for 4,118 days.

Hamas said yesterday that it retrieved the body from a tunnel in Rafah, in an IDF-held part of the Strip. The body was handed over to the Red Cross earlier today, which brought it to IDF troops in the Strip. It was then taken to the Abu Kabir forensic institute in Tel Aviv for identification.

The bodies of four slain hostages now remain held in the Strip — three Israelis and one Thai national: Meny Godard, Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, Dror Or and Sudthisak Rinthalak.

“The Israeli government shares in the deep sorrow of the Goldin family and of all the families of the fallen hostages,” says the Prime Minister’s Office in a statement.

The PMO says that Israel is “determined, committed, and working tirelessly” to bring back the remaining four slain hostages for burial, adding that Hamas is “required to fulfill its commitments to the mediators and return them as part of the implementation of the agreement.”