It has been 4,118 days since Lt. Hadar Goldin of the Givati Reconnaissance Unit was killed in battle and abducted by Hamas in the Rafah area. On Saturday, the terror group claimed to have located Goldin in tunnels near Rafah. That evening Chief of Staff Gen. Eyal Zamir visited his family. On Sunday, his body was returned to Israel for burial.
Goldin was killed in August 2014 during a cease‑fire in the Gaza war known in Israel as Operation Protective Edge. For over 11 years, he was officially listed as a fallen soldier whose resting place remains unknown. His family waged a heroic fight to bring him home, and long before the war they had demanded that Gaza not be rebuilt without his return.
On Aug. 1 2014, a 72‑hour cease‑fire began at 08:00 a.m. It was shortly violated when Hamas fired rockets into the Gaza border region followed by mortar bombs. A unit of the Givati Reconnaissance Unit under Maj. Benaya Sarel continued operational activity to locate tunnels in the Rafah area. At 9:05 a.m., the unit was attacked by terrorists emerging from a tunnel, killing three soldiers: Goldin, the commander Sarel and Staff Sgt. Liel Gidoni. Goldin was abducted into the tunnel and, shortly afterward, the “Hannibal Directive” was declared, under which heavy artillery was fired to try and disrupt the escape of the abductors. Givati forces remained in the area for about 72 hours longer to search for Goldin, but to no avail.
The deputy battalion commander Lt. Eitan Fund and war‑room chief 2nd Lt. Matan Horesh led the pursuit of the terrorist squad through the tunnel. During that operation, items discovered by a joint force of Sayeret Matkal and UNIT 8900 in the afternoon provided evidence for confirming Goldin’s death. At the emotional military ceremony marking the acceptance of his coffin, Fund and then‑brigade commander Brig. Gen. Ofer Winter participated.
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He managed to get engaged to his partner and draw the wedding invitation
(Photo: Dana Kopel)
Goldin, 23 at the time of his death, was born and raised in Kfar Saba. He attended Beit Berl High School in the city and later studied at Kfar Batya High School in Ra’anana, where he completed 12th grade. He left behind three brothers, including a twin brother, and his parents, Leah and Simcha Goldin.
Before his abduction, Goldin became engaged to his fiancée, Edna Sarussi. His last family gathering took place at the engagement party. “Before he entered Gaza, he managed to draw the wedding invitation,” his father, Simcha Goldin, previously told ynet. “The last time my son and I met was on Tuesday, two days before he was killed. We met in the fields of Nir Yitzhak. They looked strong. They looked ready.”
The officer who became a symbol — even for Hamas
After reports emerged that IDF Chief of Staff Gen. Eyal Zamir was considering releasing Hamas fighters trapped in Rafah if Hamas returned Lt. Hadar Goldin, analysts suggested the fallen officer was being held in the same tunnel network where those terrorists were hiding. Still, the terror group has refused to release him. Israeli officials have since made it clear they believe Hamas knows exactly where Goldin is held, even as it continues to withhold the remains of a soldier who has become a symbol even for Hamas.
The search for Goldin
Prof. Simcha Goldin, Hadar’s father, told ynet last week: “Hamas knows. Hamas can.” He added, “Those who do not bring back fallen soldiers will abandon the wounded and forsake the living. Now is the time to bring everyone home.” He said his family draws strength from Hadar’s own message: “There is always something to do. In life, you have two options — focus on yourself or do great things.”
In a ynet interview, Simcha Goldin said returning all fallen hostages must be “the mission of the Israeli government.” He criticized reliance on U.S. intervention. “Why do we always depend on the American president? Why aren’t our government and the prime minister representing Israeli citizens? Reservists? There are civilians among the dead. Enough with the excuses,” he said.
“As a family, we’ve been fighting this for 11 years. We are resilient. It’s very hard, but we won’t stop until we bring Hadar home. That’s why, in a way, we serve as an example to other families.”
He recalled telling fellow hostage families at the start of the current war, during a meeting in a shelter: “We need to stand together. We must demand everything together.” He said, “That hasn’t happened over the last two years, and now we’re going to fix that. We stopped being the Goldin family. Hadar stopped being a private citizen. We are the face of the nation. We will bring Hadar and [fellow fallen soldier] Haim [“Hami”] home. We’ll take the symbols from the enemy and bring them back to us. They are our symbols.”
‘Hadar represents the determination for a true victory’
In an emotional speech last month at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, Hadar’s sister Ayelet Goldin urged Israelis not to give up the fight. “I was afraid the square would be empty,” she said. “But this agreement brought 20 miracles — 20 lives back from the abyss — while leaving fallen hostages in Hamas’ hands. Hamas has held my brother as a symbol for 11 years. We still have 18 hostages to bring home.”
Ayelet Goldin at the rally in Hostages Square
(Video: Hostages and Missing Families Forum, Aviv Atlas)
Choking back tears, she continued: “This is the final battle, the least glamorous one. There will be no hugs — only bowed heads, final honors. It’s the closing fight, and time is limited. Be sharp, stay alert. Ever since the 20 returned, the media have run countless stories claiming the bodies of the fallen can’t be found. That’s a blatant lie. Hamas knows everything. Just as it knew how to return 20 people alive, it knows exactly where the 18 fallen are. Hamas’s problem is not knowledge — it’s motivation. It has kept my brother as a symbol for 11 years.”
Even before the latest cease-fire deal was enacted, the Goldin family urged the government: “Send in search teams and bring them all back — before Hamas receives anything in return.” After the deal was announced, they said: “This war began 11 years ago when Israel decided to leave hostages behind in Gaza. Our Hadar represents the determination for a true victory, and until he is returned, we remain at war.”
This past July, the family marked 4,000 days since his abduction. In an interview with ynet at the time, Simcha Goldin said, “Did anyone believe we’d reach 11 years without Hadar? But we are strong, because that’s what Hadar told us to be.” He said Israeli society had become one that abandons its own. “I blame Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been in office this whole time. Until Hamas pays a price for its kidnappings, nothing will change on the ground, and the terror group will keep trying to abduct soldiers and civilians to harm Israel. What about that isn’t clear?”
“We must make Hamas pay a heavy price,” he added. “As a country, we cannot agree to any of their demands — not even humanitarian ones — before they return every hostage. Unless Hamas learns it will pay dearly for kidnappings, the equation won’t change. And they understand that.”