Israel has officially confirmed that remains recovered from Gaza are those of Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, an IDF soldier killed and abducted during the 2014 Gaza war. The confirmation, made on Sunday, November 9, 2025, by Israel’s National Center for Forensic Medicine (Abu Kabir Institute), brings an end to a painful 11-year saga for his family and the nation.
Goldin, 23, was killed and his body was captured by Hamas operatives in a tunnel in Rafah on August 1, 2014, just two hours after a ceasefire was supposed to have taken effect. For over a decade, his family has led a prominent public campaign for his return.
The breakthrough came on Saturday, November 8, when Hamas’s armed wing announced it had located the remains in a tunnel in Rafah, an area of southern Gaza under Israeli control.
The recovery is a significant development in the ongoing, U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement that ended the 2023-2025 war. Under the terms of the truce, Hamas is required to return the remains of all deceased hostages. On Sunday, Hamas handed over a coffin to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which then transferred it to the IDF and Shin Bet personnel inside the Gaza Strip.
The convoy was met by crowds of Israelis as it traveled to the forensic institute in Tel Aviv for the official identification process.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking at the weekly cabinet meeting, acknowledged the “great agony” the Goldin family had endured for 11 years. “During all these years, we… have made great efforts to bring him home,” Netanyahu said. “Now, they will be able to lay him to rest in the land of Israel.”
The successful identification of Goldin means that the remains of four other hostages, all taken during the October 7, 2023 attack, are still held in Gaza.
Footage Charlie Kirk has been shot
Charlie Kirk has been shot
