The IDF on Thursday revealed for the first time the massive tunnel in which Lt. Hadar Goldin was held captive by Hamas, days after his remains were returned for burial in Israel.
The underground complex was uncovered in a Southern Command operation in southern Rafah, led by the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit and naval commandos from Shayetet 13.
The underground tunnel network where Lt. Hadar Goldin was held, in Rafah, Gaza
(Video: IDF)
According to the IDF, the tunnel is “one of the most significant and complex underground routes exposed to date in the Gaza Strip.” It stretches more than 7 kilometers (4.5 miles) and lies roughly 25 meters (80 feet) below the surface. The tunnel runs beneath a densely populated residential neighborhood near the Philadelphi Corridor, which stretches along the Gaza-Egypt border, and winds through sensitive civilian areas, including a UN compound, mosques, clinics, kindergartens and schools.
Inside the tunnel network, soldiers found around 80 rooms, including command centers reportedly used by senior Hamas operatives. Among them was the commander of Hamas forces in Rafah, Muhammad Shabana, who was killed earlier in the war. The tunnel also housed weapons and served as a staging ground for attacks on Israeli forces operating in Gaza over the past two years.
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The underground tunnel network where Lt. Hadar Goldin was held, in Rafah, Gaza
(Photo: IDF)
The operation involved troops from the 162nd and Gaza divisions, who provided support and secured the area as engineering and special forces uncovered the tunnel.
“IDF troops under the Southern Command will continue operating in the Gaza Strip to remove any threat to the civilians of the State of Israel,” the military said in a statement.
Last week, just hours after Lt. Hadar Goldin was laid to rest, the IDF announced that the shaft from which he was abducted had been destroyed by the Nahal Brigade’s combat team. According to the military, the tunnel shaft was demolished only a few hours after Goldin was returned for burial in Israel.
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The tunnel shaft from which Lt. Hadar Goldin was abducted destroyed by IDF forces
(Photo: IDF)
Crowds gathered for Goldin’s funeral. He was killed in combat during 2014’s Operation Protective Edge, and his family fought for more than 11 years to bring him home. Goldin was 23 at the time of his death and is survived by his parents, Simcha and Leah, his sister Ayelet, his brother Chemi and his twin brother Tzur.
He was kidnapped on August 1, 2014, just as a 72-hour ceasefire went into effect at 8:00 a.m. The truce quickly collapsed when Hamas fired rockets into southern Israel, followed by two mortar shells. A Givati Brigade reconnaissance unit, commanded by Maj. Benaya Sarel, continued an operation to locate tunnels in the Rafah area.
At 9:05 a.m., terrorists emerged from a tunnel and attacked the unit, killing three soldiers: Goldin, Sarel and Staff Sgt. Liel Gidoni. Goldin was dragged into a tunnel. Shortly after, the IDF invoked the Hannibal Directive, unleashing heavy artillery fire aimed at disrupting the captors’ escape.
Givati forces remained in the area for about 72 hours in a failed attempt to recover Goldin. Lt. Eitan Fund, deputy commander of the reconnaissance battalion, and Second Lt. Matan Horesh, the battalion commander’s operations officer, led a pursuit into the tunnel. During the chase, evidence was recovered that—alongside items later found by Sayeret Matkal and the Eitan Unit—allowed the army to declare Goldin’s death.
Lt. Fund and then-Givati Brigade commander Col. Ofer Winter were among those present at the emotional military ceremony held to receive Goldin’s remains.