May Allah bring closure: Military leader vows to return remains of officer killed in 2014 Gaza war
As-salamu alaykum. I read that Israel’s military chief has promised to bring home the remains of an officer who was killed more than a decade ago in Gaza. He met with the family of Lt. Hadar Goldin, who died during the 2014 six-week conflict. Since then, Goldin’s body has reportedly been in Gaza, though the group accused of holding it never publicly confirmed having it.
The army said Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir updated the family on what the military knows so far and stressed his commitment to returning Hadar and all fallen captives. Some reports say a search was carried out in an area under Israeli control and that remains were recovered in a tunnel near Rafah, but official confirmation has been limited.
Another soldier, Oron Shaul, killed in the same 2014 fighting, had his remains recovered earlier this year during the latest hostilities. Attempts in past exchanges to get both bodies back failed. Goldin, 23 at the time, was part of a unit working to find and destroy tunnels and was killed on August 1, 2014, shortly after a temporary ceasefire began.
Under the current US-mediated truce, Israel seeks to repatriate the remains of deceased captives. When the truce began on October 10, Hamas held both living hostages and bodies; since then, all living hostages have been released and many sets of remains returned, while Israel has freed nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and returned numerous Palestinian bodies. A small number of hostage bodies taken during the October 2023 attack are still awaited.
May Allah grant patience to the families on all sides and bring clarity and closure to those who await the return of their loved ones.
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