Israel confirms returned body belongs to soldier killed in Gaza in 2014 conflict

By Ivana Kottasová, Ibrahim Dahman, Eugenia Yosef, CNN

(CNN) — Israel has confirmed the body it received on Sunday afternoon is that of Lt. Hadar Goldin, an Israeli soldier killed more than a decade ago in Gaza, the Prime Minister’s Office said on Sunday.

Goldin was killed in the final days of the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas and his body has been held in Gaza since then.

“Hadar’s return provides some measure of comfort to a family that has lived with agonizing uncertainty and doubt for over 11 years,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier that tests to verify his identity would begin “immediately” after his body was handed over.

As with previous hostage returns, Hamas handed what it said was Goldin’s body to the the International Red Cross, which then transferred it to the Israeli military. The handover was part of the ceasefire agreement that brought the worst of the fighting in Gaza to an end a month ago.

In a statement on Saturday evening, Goldin’s family said they are “waiting for Hadar to be returned to us.” They said the Israeli military chief had updated them on the on the “tremendous effort” to return Goldin.

Goldin’s family has spent years campaigning for his return, citing Israel’s commitment to the principle of leaving no one behind in conflict. The international campaign for the return of hostages taken during the Hamas-led terror attack on October 7, 2023, put a new spotlight on their fight.

Goldin was killed on August 1, 2014, just days before Israel withdrew its troops from Gaza. He was 23 years old, one of 68 Israeli soldiers killed during the month-and-a-half-long war.

More than 2,200 Palestinians were killed in that conflict, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Under the first phase of the US-brokered ceasefire, Hamas was required to return all hostages, including the bodies of those who had been killed.

Israeli intelligence has previously assessed that Hamas may not be able to find and return all the remaining dead hostages in Gaza.

The return of Goldin’s body leaves four deceased hostages still in Gaza. Three are Israelis who were killed on October 7, 2023, and whose bodies were taken to Gaza. The fourth is a Thai citizen who was kidnapped during the attack. The Thai government said in May 2024 that he was presumed dead.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

This is a developing story.