Red Cross vehicles transport a body, identified by Hamas as deceased Israeli soldier Hadar Goldin, in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Nov. 9, 2025. (Credit: Mahmoud Issa/Reuters)
Israel said it had received Sunday through the Red Cross the remains of a hostage, which Hamas earlier announced belonged to officer Hadar Goldin, who was killed in the Gaza war of 2014.
Israeli forensic experts are expected to determine the identity of the remains once they are brought into Israel from Gaza.
"Israel has received, via the Red Cross, the coffin of a fallen hostage that was transferred to the Israeli army and Shin Bet personnel inside the Gaza Strip," the prime minister's office said in a statement.
Israeli forensic experts are expected to determine the identity of the remains once they are brought into Israel.
If confirmed, Goldin would be the 24th deceased hostage whose remains have been returned by Hamas since the start of the cease-fire on Oct. 10 that has halted the war in Gaza.
Hamas' armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said earlier it had found Goldin's remains in a tunnel in Rafah the day before.
Goldin's body has been held in Gaza since his death in 2014. Until now, Hamas had never acknowledged his death nor possession of his remains.
Israeli media reported on Saturday that Israel had allowed Hamas and Red Cross personnel to search in an area under Israeli control in Rafah to locate Goldin's remains.
"Lieutenant Hadar Goldin fell in heroic combat during Operation Protective Edge" in 2014, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday.
"His body was abducted by Hamas, which refused to return him throughout this entire period."
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