DNA used to confirm Hadar Goldin’s death

The Israeli army on Sunday confirms the death of missing soldier Lieutenant Hadar Goldin by checking the DNA of parts of his body that were found in a tunnel.

Goldin went missing in action on Friday following a deadly incident in southern Gaza on Friday morning in which two other soldiers were killed, with Israel saying it suspected he had been snatched by Palestinian militants.

The incident sparked a major bombardment of the southern city of Rafah and the surrounding area as troops sought to track him down in a display of firepower which killed 114 people in just 24 hours.

But early on Sunday, the army announced that Goldin had been killed in action, with army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner telling AFP he had been identified by his DNA.

“What we know for sure was that one suicide bomber and at least three or four other gunmen came out of a tunnel.

“One blew himself up, killing two on the spot, and the others were shooting — they grabbed Hadar and snatched him down into the tunnel,” he says.

“We don’t know if he was alive and wounded, or dead at this time. Only in the aftermath, with the forensic investigation, were we able to conclude that he was killed,” he says.

Remains of Goldin’s body were discovered inside the tunnel east of Rafah where the confrontation took place, Lerner says.

“He was identified by his DNA,” he tells AFP, saying what they found proved he was dead, not being held by a militant group.

“There was enough to determine that he had been killed and to carry out a burial.”

Goldin’s death brings the death toll among Israeli soldiers to 64 since the start of hostilities on July 8, the heaviest since the 2006 war against Hezbollah.

More than 1,800 Palestinians have been killed, with UN figures indicating most were civilians.

— AFP