IDF says it demolished tunnel used to abduct Hadar Goldin 11 years ago

Hours after the body of Lt. Hadar Goldin was returned to Israel by Hamas on Sunday, the IDF demolished the tunnel to which he was abducted 11 years ago, the army says.

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 by the terror operatives into their tunnel.

The military says that over 11 years later, just after his body was returned, troops of the Nahal Brigade razed the tunnel opening.

The tunnel to which Lt. Hadar Goldin was abducted on August 1, 2014, in southern Gaza’s Rafah is demolished on November 9, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)