Beneath schools, mosques and UN facilities: IDF reveals where Hamas held Hadar Goldin

The IDF revealed new details Monday about the decade-long effort to bring home Lt. Hadar Goldin, an Israeli officer killed and abducted by Hamas during a ceasefire in Rafah on August 1, 2014, during Operation Protective Edge.

Goldin was a young officer with a life still ahead of him, a beloved son, brother, and fiancé whose future was cut short. He left behind grieving parents, two brothers, a sister, and the woman he was preparing to marry. For more than 11 years, his family fought tirelessly to bring him home for a proper Jewish burial.

According to the IDF, Hamas held Goldin’s remains in a tunnel stretching more than 10 kilometers beneath Rafah, reaching depths of 30 meters. The network reportedly passed beneath a UNRWA compound, schools, kindergartens, mosques, and clinics, and contained approximately 80 rooms used for weapons storage, command operations, and attack planning.

After years of intelligence gathering and dozens of covert operations, Goldin’s remains were finally returned to Israel on November 9, 2025. He was laid to rest two days later, ending his family’s 11-year wait to bring him home.