Hamas Returns Remains of Soldier Killed in 2014

Hadar Goldin will finally receive a Jewish burial, says Benjamin Netanyahu
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Nov 9, 2025 7:53 AM CST
Hamas Returns Remains of Soldier Killed 11 Years Ago
A woman walks past a photo of Hadar Goldin, an Israeli soldier killed in 2014, in Jerusalem, Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025.   (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

The Red Cross received the remains of another hostage in Gaza on Sunday, but it's an unusual case: Hamas said the remains are from an Israeli soldier who was killed in 2014, per the AP. The militant group said it found the body of Hadar Goldin in a tunnel in the enclave's southernmost city of Rafah on Saturday. Goldin was reportedly killed on Aug. 1, 2014, two hours after a ceasefire took effect ending that year's war between Israel and Hamas. His remains were never returned, however.

They will now be transferred to Israel and to the national forensic institute for confirmation of his identity. Goldin's return would be a significant development in the US-brokered truce and close an 11-year saga for his family. At the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that holding the body for so long has caused "great agony of his family, which will now be able to give him a Jewish burial." Netanyahu said the country would continue trying to bring home the bodies of other Israelis, including Eli Cohen, an Israeli spy hung in Damascus in 1965.

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