Israel Confirms Receipt of Remains of โฃSoldier Killed in 2014 Gaza Conflict
KHAN YOUNIS,โข Gaza – Israel has confirmed receiving the remains of Hadarโข Goldin, an Israeli soldier killed during โคthe 2014 Gaza war, after they were recoveredโ and returned โคby โคauthorities in Gaza.โ Theโข remains of approximately 300 individuals have been returned โinโ total, with 89 identified as of saturday, according to reports from Gaza City.
The return of Goldin’s remainsโข closes a deeply painful chapter for his family and for Israel, โคwhich has long sought the return โof its soldiers and citizensโ missing โor killed in conflict. The recovery comes amid the ongoing war that began with a Hamas-led attack on southern israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in approximately 1,200 โdeaths,โค mostly civilians, and the abduction ofโ 251โ people. The โคreturn also โฃoccurs as the conflictโ has led to a staggering 69,176 โขPalestinian deaths in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry,โ which is staffed โby medical professionals โand maintains โคrecords considered generally reliable โขby independent experts.
forโฃ nearly a โขdecade, the Goldin family โendured the anguish of โขuncertainty, holding a “pseudo-funeral” at the urging ofโ Israeli โmilitary rabbis, according โคto Leah Goldin, Hadar’s mother. She described the lingering uncertainty as โa โข”knife โconstantly making new cuts.”
“Returningโข her son’sโฃ body has ethical and religious โคvalueโ and is part of theโ sacrosanct pact Israel โคmakes with its citizens, who are required by โขlaw toโข serve โin the military,” Leah โGoldin told The Associated Press earlier this year. “Hadar is a soldier who went to โcombat and they abandoned him, and they destroyedโข his humanitarian rightsโค and ours as well.”
Following the October 7th attack, the Goldin familyโฃ shifted their focus to supporting the families of those newly abducted, initially facing a senseโข of isolation. “We were a symbolโ of failure,” Goldin recalled. “They told us,’we aren’t like โyou,our kids will come โฃback โคsoon.'”