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Israel receives body of soldier killed in 2014 Gaza conflict
Israel confirmed Sunday it has received the remains of Lt. Hadar Goldin, a soldier killed in a 2014 Hamas ambush during a previous Gaza conflict, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli military.
The body is undergoing formal identification procedures, military officials stated. If confirmed, this return fulfills part of a ceasefire agreement, under which Hamas has now released all 20 living hostages and 24 of 28 deceased individuals held since the 7 October 2023 attack.
Netanyahu vows to recover all remains
Netanyahu emphasized that Lt. Goldin's family can now proceed with a Jewish burial, reaffirming Israel's commitment to retrieving the bodies of all deceased hostages. "We have returned 250 so far. We will bring them all back," he declared.
On Saturday, Goldin's family issued a statement expressing cautious optimism: "An entire nation is waiting for Hadar to be returned to us. We ask everyone to remain calm. Until it's final, it's not over."
2014 ambush and aftermath
Lt. Goldin, from Kfar Saba, was the only deceased hostage whose remains were held in Gaza prior to the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attack. He was killed on 1 August 2014, shortly after a ceasefire began in that year's conflict, during an ambush near Rafah in southern Gaza. Hamas fighters attacked an Israeli patrol, killing Goldin and two other soldiers before dragging his body into a tunnel.
Israel responded with heavy bombardment of Rafah, continuing for four days even after declaring Goldin dead. The operation resulted in dozens of Palestinian civilian casualties.
Recent developments in Gaza
On Saturday, Israel identified another returned body as that of Israeli-Argentinian Lior Rudaeff. Meanwhile, two Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces after crossing a demarcation line in Gaza, deemed an "immediate threat," per the Israeli military.
Separately, a Palestinian was fatally shot east of Bureij refugee camp, and another was wounded in Khan Younis, according to Gazan medical officials and the Israeli military.
Casualty figures and context
The Hamas-run health ministry reports at least 241 Palestinian deaths since the ceasefire began, with UN agencies considering its figures reliable. Since 7 October 2023, when Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel and took 251 hostages, Israeli military operations in Gaza have resulted in at least 69,176 Palestinian fatalities, per ministry data.
