Palestinian militant group Hamas said on Sunday it had handed over the remains of an Israeli soldier killed in Gaza 11 years ago.
Under the US-brokered ceasefire agreement, the group is required to hand over the remains of 28 hostages to Israel. After the most recent handover, four bodies remain in Gaza.
what do we know?
Hamas said the body of soldier Hadar Goldin, who was 23 when he was abducted during a humanitarian ceasefire in the 2014 Gaza war, had been transferred to the Red Cross.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the coffin was later found by Israeli troops in Gaza.
“Lieutenant Hadar Goldin died in heroic combat during Operation Protective Edge in 2014,” Netanyahu said at Sunday’s weekly cabinet meeting. “His body was kidnapped by Hamas, which refused to return it during this entire period.”
Who was Hadar Goldin?
When Goldin was killed, he was part of an Israeli unit tasked with locating and destroying Hamas tunnels. Since then his body was kept in the Palestinian territory.
Hamas’s armed wing had earlier said Goldin’s remains had been found in a tunnel in Rafah a day earlier.
The Israeli military said Sunday that forensics had confirmed that the remains were those of Goldin.
He became the 24th dead hostage whose remains have been returned by Hamas since a ceasefire began on October 10 in the latest war in Gaza.
Israel denies secret deal with Hamas
Israeli media, citing unnamed officials, had previously reported that Hamas had blocked the release of Goldin’s body to try to negotiate safe passage for more than 100 militants surrounded by Israeli forces and trapped in Rafah. Israel denied that any deal had taken place.
Goldin’s family, along with the family of another captured soldier, led a public campaign in 2014 to bring their sons home for burial. Israel recovered the remains of another soldier, Oron Shaul, earlier this year.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog pays tribute to the family
The latest Gaza offensive began with a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
About 1,200 people were killed – mostly civilians – and 251 were abducted and taken to Gaza.
Gaza’s health ministry now reports that at least 69,176 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive, while many expert estimates put the death toll much higher.
Israel says 479 of its soldiers have been killed since the ground offensive began in late October 2023.
The Gaza ceasefire, effective since October 10, remains fragile but is holding despite repeated Israeli attacks and mutual accusations of violations by both sides.
Edited by: Sam Dusan Inayatullah